Perfect Christmas
by Silver Swiftness
Summary: What if he wasn’t the “Mr. Right” she had been looking for? What if the right guy had been in front of her all this time, and she had never even realized it? Is it too late to tell him how she feels? Does she even know how she feels? [TyHil or KaiHi
1. This Time Of Year

_Brief Synopsis: _What if he _wasn't_ the "Mr. Right" she had been looking for? What if the right guy had been in front of her all this time, and she had never even realized it? Is it too late to tell him how she feels? Does she even know how _she_ feels?__

__

__

_About:_It's Christmas time and Hilary doesn't know what to think. Tyson, the boy she's had a crush since she first met him, has finally asked her out. But now, Hilary thinks she's also starting to have feelings for the seemingly cold-hearted captain of the Bladebreakers, Kai. But Hilary really doesn't want to break Tyson's heart, especially when she can't even figure out her own feelings. When fate takes a drastic turn for Hilary, to whom will she turn? Does Kai really have feelings for Hilary? Who will Hilary choose? Will this end up as the perfect Christmas—or a perfect disaster?

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I do not own any of the Christmas lyrics I may use, and I don't certainly own Christmas [I wish!].

Perfect Christmas 

Chapter 1: _This Time Of Year _

   "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening," the preteen brunette hummed happily as she walked down the snow-covered street towards the Kinomiya dojo. Rubbing her bare hands together and watching as cloudy white puffs of heat surrounded her frigid hands, Hilary attempted to heat up her nearly frostbitten fingers. 

   Sure, it was cold outside. But it was never to cold for Hilary at this time of year; especially when Christmas was so near by. "In the lane, snow is glistening." In just a few more days, she would be stuffing herself silly with all that delicious Christmas food, having fun outside in the snow, singing Christmas carols non-stop, and giving and receiving lots and lots of presents! Just thinking about it all made Hilary giddy with delight. Christmas _had_ to be the best time of the year! "A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight! Walking in a winter wonderlaaaAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

   *_Thwock!*_  

   A loud splat resounded as something icy cold and hard smacked her in the forehead, soon followed by a…

   *_Crunch!*_

   The brunette in the puffed up, baby blue parka toppled over backwards into a large white pile. And that was soon followed by a…

   "TTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOONNNNNNN!!!!!!! [Tyson]" a shrill shriek echoed through the little town. Anyone who would have been standing under an overhanging of any sort, would have just experienced a miniature avalanche. That day, "anyone" included Tyson.

   "Hey!" the navy-haired boy's head popped out of the pile of snow angrily. "What was that for?! I wasn't aiming for _you_, you know!"

   "Well you could've fooled me!" Hilary shot back as she made her way out of the large white mound.

    "Says you! I was aiming for Mr. Grumpy-pants on the other side of the street--! Hey where'd he go—" Tyson's retorts were abruptly cut off, as Kai gave him a face-wash in the snow.

   "Right behind you." The slate haired captain smirked. With that, he turned away and continued to walk passed his laughing American and Chinese teammates. As he approached the dojo steps, the Russian boy felt something hard and cold hit him in the back of the head. Whirling around, he saw a shivering Kenny typing away at his laptop on the porch and Tyson whistling away, trying to look as innocent as possible. Kai shot a quick glance at the girl in the white parka and continued to stare in a daze at her, as she angrily brushed the snow off herself. _She looks so cute when she's angry_…_Gah, what am I thinking?! _he growled. _Stupid Christmas spirit is making my brain turn to mush._  

   Shaking his head as to rid himself of such thoughts he averted his glance to Max and Ray, who each had an eyebrow cocked in disbelief as they looked on at Tyson, he knew the culprit. Kai silently bent over to scoop up some snow in his gloved hands and smirked evilly as he launched it forcefully at the blader with the bad acting skills. As the boy proceeded to fall flat on his face, Kai couldn't help but give a snort of laughter. "Smart-aleck."      

   "Why you…" Tyson scooped up a wad of snow from his place on the white ground and began to stand up, before falling right back down on his face and causing another round of laughter from Max and Ray.

   "Guys!" the Chief complained frantically as he clutched his laptop close to his chest. "Watch it! I'm trying to finish planning the party—AAAAAHHHH!" he shrieked when a clump of snow decided to then detach itself from the rooftop nearby the ginger-haired computer genius.

   "Ahahahaha-Hey!" Max stumbled backwards as his laughter was cut short when Tyson's badly aimed snowball slapped him in the face.

   Ray laughed as his American buddy landed on his behind in the snow, and received a faceful of snow in return. 

   "Oho, I know where _this_ is going…" Tyson smirked mischievously. Jumping up with an armful of snowballs, he yelled out a war cry and prepared for battle. "SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

   And with that, clumps of snow proceeded to fly back and forth between the members of the Bladebreakers. Happily laughing together, the gang played in the snow together for the entire afternoon. Kenny set Dizzi aside, Hilary and Tyson carried out their argument through the snowball fight, and even Kai couldn't help but smile as he and the others playfully pummelled Tyson with snowballs.

   "Aw, come on guys! Pick on someone your own size!" Tyson half laughed, half complained, covering himself with both arms.

   As Kai tossed a snowball at the boy in return, "You _are_ our size, baka." 

   "Okay, okay." Hilary sighed with a smile. "That's enough, you guys. I think Tyson's learned his lesson…" she bent over to give Tyson a hand and he was seriously tempted to pull her over onto the ground beside him.

   Chuckling, Max added, "Or not…" 

   _She's cute when she's helping others…Heck, she's cute all the time. Hey, what does he think he's doing? _Crimson eyes watched, as the girl came was pulled over by the navy haired boy and onto the snow beside him. Kai froze. _Wait…What?!_ Kai shook his head quickly. _Stupid Tyson. Why'd Tyson have to throw the snowball at his head anyways? It was messing him up completely. Stupid snowball. Stupid snow. Stupid winter. _Everything led right back to Christmas and Christmas spirit. _Stupid Christmas._

   "Kai?" the boy with two-toned hair looked up to see a gloved hand of Ray on his shoulder. Looking into the face of the boy with the cat-like features, Kai saw a look of slight concern in his friend's amber orbs. "Coming?" he gestured towards the open doors of the dojo.

   Grunting in reply, Kai followed Ray inside, but stopped in the doorway. He only saw the Chief, Max, Ray, and Tyson's grandpa warming themselves with hot chocolate by the fireplace. Glancing back out the door, Kai only saw falling white snow covering everything in the empty white yard.

   "Kai?" Kai jumped slightly at the sound of Ray's voice as he came up behind him. 

   "Huh?" the dazed boy answered, snapping his attention away from the empty yard.

   "You okay, bro?" Kai saw the same look of concern in his friend's eyes from a few minutes ago. 

   "Yeah." The Russian muttered before tossing off his saturated outdoor garments and finding himself a place on the wall, near the fire.

   Ray sighed as he watched his team captain lounge himself against a dojo wall. _What's up with him?_ The Asian boy glanced quickly out the dojo's sliding door and out into the empty white yard. _I wonder what Kai was looking at…_ Then with a shrug, he decided to keep the cold out and slid the door closed with one last glance out into the falling snow. 

    

~*~

**Silver Swiftness:** Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Lol! Yes! Christmas is practically here and now my mind is set in Christmas mode! FYI: This story takes place during or maybe a bit after Vforce, I guess, at about Christmas time. So if you want to know what's up with our Kai, please review and tell me if I should continue on with the rest of this Christmas fic! Thanks!

Oh! And if you are wondering if this is going to be a KaixHilary fic or a TysonxHilary fic…I really have no clue yet. I'll hint both pairings, so you guys can tell me which you prefer!


	2. O Come, All Ye Mixed Emotions

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs I may use.

Perfect Christmas 

Chapter 2: _O Come, All Ye Mixed Emotions_

   "Whoa!" Hilary came crashing down onto the snow beside Tyson. "Hey! What the heck was that for, Kinomiya?! I was just--" the brunette's rants were cut short when she saw the gentle, earnest expression on the boy's face. 

   "Sorry, Hilary." he replied softly. As the rest of the Bladebreakers slowly trickled inside the dojo, the two preteens lay on their backs in the snow, staring up at the cloudy grey sky in silence. When Kai and Ray had finally stepped into the dojo, Tyson stood up hurriedly and offered a hand to the slightly confused Hilary. 

    Taking his hand and blushing slightly, Hilary let the boy guide her towards the other side of the dojo. "What is it Tyson?" she looked over at the navy-haired boy, slightly troubled. "Is something wrong?"

    "N-No, not really." He paused to see the concerned look on the girl's face. "It's just…" Man, this was _way _harder than he expected it was going to be. It was hard to say the words that he had so carefully chosen out and had repeatedly practiced over and over in his head for so long. He had practiced so he wouldn't look like an idiot, but now here he was, stumbling like an idiot. 

   "Are you sure you're okay?" Hilary was genuinely worried now. "Come on, let's get you inside where it's warmer. I think you're coming down with—"

   "Willyougotothedancewithmetomorrow?" Tyson suddenly blurted aloud before covering his mouth with both hands.

  "Wh-_what_?" the brunette stuttered, quite taken back at Tyson's sudden outburst.

   _Tyson didn't just say what I thought he said…did he? _Hilary gaped, a small giggle getting caught in her throat. _I mean, come on! This is Tyson Kinomiya the walking disposal unit, we're talking about here! I must be dreaming!_ Hilary balled her hands into tight fists inside her mittens and dug her nails into her palms to see try and wake herself. _Yes, this must be some very odd dream because why else would Tyson ever like me? He'd never like me, which means he'd never _love_ me? Right? Right? Right? Don't answer that_.

"Ow!" Hilary yelped.__

_   Okay. Maybe I'm not dreaming…_

   "Are…you okay?" Tyson looked over at Hilary who was shaking her hands in her mittens like crazy. 

   "Hm? Oh, yeah! Yeah?" Hilary immediately whipped her hands behind her back and turned as red as a tomato.

   "So…uh…do you want to go to the dance with me…?"

   "Um…" Hilary looked away, not exactly sure what to say.

   "If you don't want to…I'll understand…" Tyson fidgeted nervously with his fingers and began to dig a hole in the snow with the toe of his boot.

   _Could he be playing a joke?_ The brunette looked up to see the boy glancing up, shyly at her. He looked so…so…_serious_. Tyson was never a good actor, he couldn't act if his life depended on it! So that would mean…But they argued so much…But he looks so serious…Hilary felt her face getting hot, but shivers were coursing down her spine. _Did he really ask me?_ She looked back up at the nervous boy. _I guess if you look at him this way…he _does_ look really cute…_

   "Yeah," she found herself saying quietly. "Yeah, I-I think I will." She said with a bit more confidence. "I mean, if you don't mind…"

   "R-Really?" Tyson looked up, his eyebrow slightly raised. "Wow! Yes! I mean, no! No, I don't mind!" the grin on his face spread from one ear to another. 

   At that, Hilary couldn't help but smile too. The two stared at each other with big goofy grins on their faces and their hearts fluttering. It felt odd…but nice at the same time. They were surrounded by silence together, amidst the falling snow that swirled around them. It all seemed perfect until…

   *_grrrrrumble*_

Hilary snapped out of her trance and stared at Tyson with wide eyes. "What was that?"

   Tyson laughed nervously, one hand behind his head. "Eheh…That would be…my stomach… All this snow is making me hungry."

   "_Right_." Hilary laughed, although slightly disappointed at the thought that the romantic moment could have lasted a bit longer. _I guess that's Tyson, for ya…_ "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

   "Deck the halls with boughs of holly! Falalalala! Lalalala!"

   "Will someone get the door?"

   "Someone get the phone!"

   "Tyson! Don't eat the food!"

   "'Tis the season to be jolly! Falalalala! Lalalala!"

   "What?!"

   "Hey! Watch it, you'll knock down the tree!"

   "Tyson, get the door! It's your house!"

   "What?!"

   "Max, stop singing!"

   "Tyson, the phone's for you!"

   "Ow! When I said to watch the tree, Tyson, I didn't mean it literally! Watch where you're going!"

   "Kinomiya, get back here with those cookies!"

   "Tyson?"

   "Tyson!"

   "TYSON!!!"

   "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" 

   Tyson covered his ears and yelled out at the top of his lungs. "One at a time guys! My brain can only take so much shouting at one time! I'm going, I'm going already! Sheesh!" the navy haired Bladebreaker held up his hands in defence and he backed up towards the door—only to fall flat on his back when the sliding door of the dojo slid open from the outside.

   The boy groaned, still lying flat on his now very sore back. "It's times like these, where I _really_ feel underpaid."

   "Uh…" the visitors at the door blinked in surprise when the door slid right open and out tumbled the loud-mouthed Bladebreaker.

   "I told you guys we should've just tried the door! But _nnnoooo_! I can't believe we waited twenty-five minutes in the freakin' cold! Thanks to you guys, I think my fingers have strummed their last guitar—"

   "Oh, shut up Dunga! We'll pass your frozen fingers off as some of those nasty, cheap-skate fishsticks and give them to the poor. At least _then_ they'll be useful! You can't even play your bass guitar properly _now_!" the tall, midnight blue haired girl rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust. 

   "_Why you_--!"

   "Quit it, you two." The aquamarine-eyed leader of the Saint Shields ordered with a tone of authority. "Y'okay, Kinomiya?" he offered a hand to his fallen friend.

   "As fine as Frosty is in May…" Tyson moaned, accepting Ozuma's hand. 

   "Hey guys! You're here early." Ray commented as the Saint Shields entered the dojo with large black cases.

   "Yeah, we just wanted to drop off some of the instruments and stuff before everyone comes tomorrow." Joseph shrugged.

   "Okay, cool. Thanks for playing at the party tomorrow, I can't wait to hear you guys!" the blonde American smiled and gave Miriam a quick wink.

   "No problem." Ozuma replied as he shoved the last case into the corner of the room. "We'll come early tomorrow to set up. See ya' 'round." 

   As soon as the Saint Shields left the dojo, the Bladebreakers went back to preparing everything for the party the next day. 

   "Hey, Kenny? Is there anything else that we haven't done yet?" Max called out from the top of the stepladder, as he hung garlands of dark green pine, riddled with holly and gold ribbon. "Hey? Guys, where's the Chief?"

   "Uh…?" the rest of the gang looked around the room. Where was the short, ginger-haired boy?

   "Mmmpphh!" a muffled scream arose from under a pile of tinsel, garlands, and Christmas tree decorations.

   "I think we've found him…" Ray commented with a small smile as he and Kai tossed aside some of the decorations and unearthed a very dazed Kenny.

   "Tyson…Tree…Collapsed…Too heavy…" the computer genius wheezed, still very much in a state of bewilderment.

   "Eheheh…Sorry Chief." Tyson placed both hands behind his head, apologetically. With that, everyone in the room sweatdropped at their friend's pure clumsiness.

   "You know…" Kai thought aloud, "I think I have just the cure for Tyson's clumsiness…"

   Hilary giggled. So the seemingly cold-hearted Bladebreaker _did_ have a sense of humour. 

   "Hey! Kai! This isn't funny! Guys, get me down! This is _my_ house! You can't make me a prisoner in my own house!" Tyson yelled at the top of his lungs, from his place tied to a chair with ribbons and garlands. 

   "Yes we can." Max chuckled, watching his best friend squirm in his place of captivity.

   "You guys!" he whined. "Where's your Christmas spirit?"

   "Maybe some of us don't _have_ any spirit." Kai smirked as he tied one last knot at the back of the chair and placed a strip of silver duct tape across Tyson's mouth.

   Hilary stopped giggling. "Isn't that going a bit far, Kai…?"

  "Naw," Ray patted Tyson on top of his backwards baseball cap. "He can still breathe through his nose."

   Smirking the brunette thought, _Oh well. Tyson does kinda deserve this…And besides, my ears needed a rest anyways._

   _Heh…I made her laugh, yes! I mean…not that I intended to make her laugh or anything…_Kai glanced up at Hilary as she giggled in Tyson's direction and reached up to place the star on the very top of the tree. After seeing that the girl couldn't reach the treetop, Kai found himself walking over to her, as casually as he could.

   "Need help?" he heard his voice asking her.

   Hilary looked up at the crimson-eyed boy in slight surprise. _He wants to help me?_ "Uh…well, I kind of wanted to do it myself…" feeling oddly uncomfortable, she scanned the room with her eyes for a chair or a stepladder. 

   "Here." Kai offered. "Turn around." 

   Hilary obeyed and turned to face the Christmas tree. "Um…Okay…" _What was he doing?_

   Kai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't know why he was doing this or even _how_ he had come to offer Hilary his help, but he was stuck now. Since when did Kai Hiwatari lose control of himself? _Ever since you met her_, a voice from somewhere in his head answered his silent thought. 

  _Hey, who are you anyway?_ Kai demanded at the little voice in his head.

  _I'm you, Kai. I'm your conscience._ The haunting voice replied.

  _Conscience or no conscience, get out of my head and stop screwing with my mind!_

  _But I _am_ your mind, Kai. Bow down to me!_

  _I will not!_ Was it possible that Tyson knew telepathy? Kai, seriously doubted that.

  _It was worth a shot…_ the little voice muttered.

  _What do you want from me?_

  _Well, Kai, I want what _you_ want. _

_  And what is it that I want?_

Kai could have sworn the little voice in his head was chuckling at him. 

  _Oh, you know what you want Kai. Give it up, you know you want her…_

  "Oh, shut up!" he growled.

  "Kai?" Hilary asked, turning her head to face him. "Are you…okay?"

  Why was it that it seemed that everyone was asking him that question these days?

  Kai growled, his cheeks turning a light pink. "Nothing, turn around." He replied sternly.

  The slate-haired boy took another deep breathe in and hesitated once the girl had turned around. Then he placed his hands on her sides gently and lifted her up high enough to reach the top of the tree. When he finally placed her down, his shaky hands shot away from her sides. Then he strode quickly into the kitchen with his flushed face shadowed by his blue-grey bangs, his head downcast.

   Gazing after him, the blushing brunette stood immobile by the Christmas tree, her heart thumping madly. "Kai…"

~*~

**Silver Swiftness:** Okay, so there's the next chapter and don't worry, Kai's not going crazy or anything! He's just confused.  -_-; And also, I'm trying to keep the characters in character as much as possible, but of course their thoughts won't seem to be in character, because everyone thinks differently than what they appear to be…right? 

   Oh, and before I forget, about the title…even though this story is called Perfect Christmas, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be a perfect Christmas for anyone. This story's called Perfect Christmas because it's about everyone's idea of a perfect Christmas. I need your guys' opinion: TyHil or KaiHil? Thanks for reviewing and don't forget to review this chapter! ^_^ You guys rock!


	3. Shoppin Around the Christmas Tree

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs that happen to pop up. Perfect Christmas

Chapter 3: _Shoppin' Around the Christmas Tree_

   "YYYYYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!! [yeah]" the navy-haired boy sprang out of his place of captivity, silver strips of duct tape still attached to his arms and legs. "I'm free! Joy to the world, I am free! Let e-veryone hail _meeee_!" 

   Tyson danced around the dojo, belting out his own version of _Joy to the World_ at the top of his lungs. Hilary, shook her head, seriously regretting that she had offered to stay last to untie Tyson and help him clean up.  

  The brunette sighed and picked up a broom. "Tyson, you clean that side of the room and I'll do this side."

   "Aw! Why do I get the messier half?" Tyson pouted.

  "Because _you_ made the mess!"

  "How about I do the kitchen and you do the rest?"

  "How about no?"

  "How about yes?"

  "No."

  "Yes."

  "No!"

  "Yes!"

  "No, no, no!"

  "Yes, yes, _yes_!"

  "Arrrrggg…" Hilary grumbled and massaged her temples. Did he always have to be so difficult?! It was like he _enjoyed_ annoying her!

   What happened to the nice, _sweet_ Tyson that had asked her to the dance yesterday?

   Meanwhile, Tyson watched as the annoyed brunette rubbed her temples and smirked to himself. _Heh, she looks cute when she's annoyed._ It was really easy to annoy her…and lots of fun too.

   "Look, if you want to keep messing around, then I might as well go too." Hilary grabbed her coat and began to make her way towards the door.

   After that remark, Tyson's smile instantly faded. "Hey, no! Wait, don't go! I'll help, I'll help!" he pleaded, trying to make his eyes as big and round as possible.

   Hilary whirled around and placed her hands on her hips. "Tyson, I'm really not in the mood for your joking around. See you tomorrow."

   Tyson's hand shot towards her shoulder and he turned her to face him. "Look! I'm cleaning!" he grabbed the broom and began to sweep up some fallen tinsel bits. 

   "Tyson, watch--!" she cringed when the tip of the broom handle caught onto some of the silver tinsel draped over the doorway and caused a chain reaction. The strips of tape holding Christmas decorations to the wooden walls snapped and ornaments of all sizes came crashing down. Shiny tinsel, strings of lights, and Christmas garlands all came tumbling down on top of the two preteens. "—Out." Hilary finished her sentence, blowing the sparkly gold tinsel bits out of her face.

   "Eheheh…" Tyson's voice arose from underneath the giant pile of fallen decorations. "Ooops."

   Hilary giggled. How could she not? "Tyson, you're such a klutz!" she shook her head, her laughter ringing like the sound of bells.

   Tyson laughed at his own clumsiness and sat up from among the pile of garlands, his head poking up through the centre of a fallen wreath. As the remaining pieces of tinsel and sparkles floated back down to the floor, Tyson found himself staring at the brunette on the ground beside him. Dude, she was beautiful. 

   Now this was how she liked it. Serene, quiet, no fighting…just her and Tyson. The _nice_ Tyson. It was almost…perfect. Hilary peered at the navy-haired boy through the falling glitter, loving how the sparkles added to the slightly romantic, holiday atmosphere. Why couldn't he always be this calm? As she stared at him, she found herself getting lost in his amazingly cute appearance. He _is_ dreamy… 

   "Hil?" Tyson's gentle voice brought her back to reality. 

   "Yeah?" she replied, still in a daze.

   "I'm sorry."

   "For what?" she looked over at her blue-haired friend with concern.

   "For…for getting you so angry and stuff." He gave a small shrug and continued to stare off into the distance.

   Hilary was slightly taken back. "But it's not always your fault." She spoke quietly.

   "Hilary." He averted his attention to the girl, a look of knowing on his features. "Yes it is, you've even said so yourself about a million times! It's not like I can't hear you complaining about me." Hilary blushed at this. "So why bother deny it now?"

   "I'm s-sorry…" she stammered, feeling really embarrassed. Okay, so maybe Mr. Big-mouth _wasn't_ as dumb as he let on.

   But Tyson held up a hand. "Hey, don't be sorry. _I'm_ the one apologizing here."

   "Oh. Okay…So what do you want me to say? What am I supposed to do?"

   Tyson gazed deep into Hilary's auburn eyes and she felt shivers travelling up her spine. 

He was staring straight at her, expectantly. _Oh God, what's he thinking? Why is he staring at me like that?_

   But Hilary didn't have to do anything, as Tyson answered a swift reply of, "Just let me have this…" before leaning over and removing Hilary's mind of doubt, as his lips met hers. 

   _Oh, God. _Hilary's eyes widened at the sudden rush of adrenaline that coursed through her body at the touch of Tyson's soft lips on hers. _He's kissing me! Oh, God. What do I do, what do I do?_ She thought frantically. _Do I kiss back or do I…?_

   But then Hilary didn't have to worry anymore, as Tyson slowly pulled away, his face as red as ripe holly berries. 

   "S-sorry!" Tyson stammered, not wanting to meet Hilary's gaze. "I-I don't know what came over me—" the boy went quiet when a warm finger pressed up against his lips.

   "Sssshhh." She gave a small smile. "Don't be sorry. You don't have to apologize for something good."

   "For something good…?" Tyson was once again cut off, and Hilary found herself pressing her lips on top of his. 

   "Oh _shit_!" Tyson yanked himself away from their embrace, both his and Hilary's eyes widened in shock. 

   "What?! What is it?!" Hilary exclaimed anxiously, feeling slightly hurt at how fast he had pulled away.

   "Christmas presents!" he gasped, jumping up and grabbing his coat. "I forgot to finish getting my Christmas gifts! Screw cleaning up, I've gotta' go!"

   Hilary heaved a small sigh of disappointment. _I guess Tyson will always be the same old forgetful Tyson._ "Wait up, Kinomiya. I'm coming too."

   "What?" Tyson froze in the doorway. 

   "I said wait up, I'm coming too." Hilary gave a small smirk as she zipped up her parka and adjusted her scarf. "You need all the help you can get."

   "Okay, so we've got Grandpa's gift, Max's gift, Kenny's gift…Hey, Hilary, are you listening to me?" Tyson and Hilary had been running around the mall for the passed couple of hours, trying to finish up Tyson's last minute Christmas shopping. 

   "Huh?" Hilary snapped out of her daze, but continued to stare into the shop window. "Oh yeah, yeah I'm listening. Go on."

   "Hmph." Tyson huffed. "What's so much more important than helping me?" he peered over the brunette's shoulder and into the glass showcase. 

   Inside the glass display, was a single midnight blue velvet box with a delicate silver necklace on a bed of black velvet. Dangling on the thin silver chain was a silver snowflake, studded with tiny, sparkling crystals set in an ornate little pattern. _So that's why she keeps coming back to this shop…to stare at that dumb little necklace. Pathetic._ Tyson's pout softened slightly when he saw how mesmerized Hilary was by the piece of jewellery. _I guess it is kinda' nice…for a piece of girly jewellery crap._

   "So buy it, if you like it that much." Tyson exclaimed quite loudly, making Hilary jump. "Just stop ogling at it so we can go."

   Hilary tinged a light pink and turned to glare at the impatient Beyblader. "I don't like it _that_ much."

   "Then why do you keep coming back to look at it?"

   _Ack, damn him for being right._ "Well… it's pretty." She fidgeted slightly.

   "_Well it's pretty."_ He mocked her in an annoyingly girlish tone. "Well then buy it and let's go!" he stepped inside the store, looking at her expectantly. "We don't have all day you know!"

   _Oh, God._ People were looking at them very strangely now. _Shut uuuuup, Tyson…_ "Forget it, let's just go finish your shopping." She jammed her hands in her pockets and continued to walk passed the jewellery shop.

   "Ooookay…" Tyson raised an eyebrow at Hilary as she breezed by him with an air of annoyance. Noticing the large amount of stares that he was receiving at the moment, Tyson shot a quick glance at an elderly couple on a bench nearby. With that, the elderly couple got up from the bench and hobbled away as fast as their walkers would let them. "Riiiight…Hilary! You go buy Ray's gift and I'll meet up with you later! I've gotta' get… some other stuff!" he called after Hilary who just gave him a wave of her hand in reply, without even turning around. 

   Tyson laughed mischievously and rubbed his hands together. Laughing happily to himself, he stepped into the small boutique. "Heheheh…_Excellent_…"  

~*~

**Silver Swiftness:** There, so I got some more TyHil into the fic! Hmmm…What do you think Tyson is up to? Also, I'm really sorry if this chapter seemed a bit rushed…because it kinda was. -_-;; Don't worry, the next chapter will be _mucho_ better! Anyways, if you want a bit more Christmas fun…check out my attempt of a humour/parody fic _A Beytastic Christmas_. Yup, that's it for now and thank you _very_ much for the reviews! ^_^  

By the way…I know it's technically not Christmas any more…but I still want to finish this fic. So yeah, hope you all had a Merry Christmas (and if you don't celebrate Christmas…then Happy Holidays!).


	4. Winter Wonderland

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs that happen to pop up. Perfect Christmas

Chapter 4: _Winter Wonderland_

   "Rockin' around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop!" the spiky-haired leader of the Saint Shields belted out his rocking new version of the Christmas song, along with the rest of his jamming team. "Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple tries to stop!"

   "Rockin' around the Christmas tree, let the Christmas spirit ring!" the cobalt-haired girl sang, her fingers dancing skilfully across her electric keyboard. "Later we'll have some pumpkin pie, and we'll do some carolling!"

    "They're not bad." Hilary spoke quietly to herself from her spot leaning against the wall of the dojo, letting her head bounce up and down with the beat. Turning to look out onto the dance floor, Hilary sighed. "At least some people are having fun." She commented when she spotted Ray dancing quite closely to a magenta haired girl with similar feline features. 

   Ray and the other girl—Mariah, Hilary believed her name was—had danced the _entire_ night together. But then again, they hadn't seen each other for a long time. It was really quite cute.

   She scanned the dance floor for her other friends, but it wasn't very hard to spot them, even from among all the invitees. Max was literally hopping back and forth from his American friends, the All-Stars, that had come to visit, and to the large groups of fan girls from Hilary's classes. The blond Bladebreaker had danced with a lot of girls that night, especially a certain cobalt-haired Saint Shield. Hilary rolled her eyes and turned her attention towards…Tyson. She groaned. _He_ was the reason she was sitting all alone against the cold wall. _Stupid Tyson,_ she thought almost bitterly,_ You just had to go and get yourself drunk now, didn't you?_

   Sure, it had been a bit humorous at the beginning, when the navy-haired Bladebreaker had jumped up onto the tables and stage dancing and singing clumsy Christmas carols like a deranged wildman. But now, she was getting real sick of it. What about _her_? He was supposed to be at the dance with _her_? Hilary didn't care if her thoughts sounded childish and self-centred. She at least wanted to have danced with Tyson _once_.

   "Well so much for that…" she sighed miserably, silently scuffing the toe of her black ankle boot on the hardwood floor.

   "So much for what?" a deep, familiar voice came from behind Hilary. 

   The brunette jumped and her eyes snapped upwards. "Oh…Hey Kai." She gave him a forced little smile. "What's up?"

   "Hn." He grunted and leaned himself against the wall beside her. Folding his arms across his chest, he replied monotonously. "Where's the walking disposal unit?"  

   Hilary gave a small smirk. "I dunno." She shrugged, seemingly nonchalantly. "Probably off guzzling some more spiked punch and dancing his drunken ass off."

   It was Kai's turn to smirk, "Nice choice of words there." She was clearly pissed off at the pig for getting drunk and leaving her all alone. "So, why aren't you off chatting with your little girl friends?"

   "_Little girl friends?"_ Hilary snorted, a tone of disbelief in her voice. Shaking her head, she replied, a little colder than she would've wanted, "I don't have any _little girl friends_, Kai."

   _Yup_, Kai took the hint of coldness in the girl's voice. _She's pissed._ "Touched a nerve, did I?"

   Hilary growled. _What's it to him? It's not like I'm going to tell him that the only reason I stick around with the guys is because all my other _friends_ ditched me for being a class-suck up. I can't believe they told me—let alone believed-- that load of crap…some friends. They're so stupid for being jealous and thinking that I had a thing for the Bladebreakers. As if!_  

   There was a moment of silence between the two as they contemplated their thoughts and listened to the Saint Shields rock the night away. The crowd was getting pretty charged up with the awesome music, and almost everyone was dancing. Almost_._

   Hilary glanced up, feeling like she was being stared at. Across the dance floor, the brunette saw a bunch of girls her age, most likely from her school, giving her odd, menacing glares. 

   Feeling uneasy, Hilary commented. "I don't think those girls over there like me much."

   Kai shot a look across the room and saw a crowd of angry looking girls, all staring with disapproval in his direction. "They're just jealous." 

   "Jealous? Of _me_?"

   "Yeah." Kai smirked at how clueless the girl was on the matter. "Just because you're talking to me and they aren't."

   _Figures_, Hilary thought bitterly, still feeling awkward at the stares she was receiving. "I'm not really the social type of person…" _Damn, _she cursed silently,_ what did that have to do with anything?_

   "Hn, and _I_ am?" Kai replied, before shooting a threatening look at the girls across the room. In response, and much to Hilary and Kai's surprise, the fan girls quickly turned away and began to giggle like crazy. 

   Rolling his eyes, Kai spoke. "They're not staring at you anymore. You can loosen up now."

   Hilary sighed. _Loosen up?! What did he mean by that?_ She cast a look around the room and her eye caught sight of the punch bowl as it glinted in the colourful twinkling lights. She _did_ need to have a little more fun…even Kai had said so himself, didn't he? Almost automatically, Hilary found herself oddly drawn to the refreshment table.

   Kai watched as the brunette picked up a plastic cup in one hand and dipped the ladle into the glass bowl of spiked punch. On impulse, the crimson-eyed boy grabbed her arm to stop her and Hilary turned to glare at him.

   "What do you think you're doing?!" they simultaneously snapped at each other, followed by an awkward silence between the two.

   Hilary decided to respond first. "I was getting myself a drink. And you?" her voice had a bit of an unfamiliar edge to it. Kai didn't like it and felt for sure that something was up.

   "And I was stopping you before you turned yourself into a drunken idiot." The boy hissed, still clutching the girl's sleeve.

   In response, Hilary snorted, "And why would you care if I'd gotten myself drunk? You're the one who told me that I needed to loosen up!"

   Slightly taken back, Kai then remembered that he had indeed told her to loosen up, only a few moments before. "Yeah, but I didn't mean to go and get yourself drunk! I meant to relax and have a bit of fun."

   "Oho, you're one to say that!" retorted the ruby-eyed girl. "Why don't _you_ 'loosen up'?"

    "Fine." Kai replied out of the blue and much to Hilary's surprise. "Care to dance?"

   "Fine." She answered curtly as she took Kai's hand, not at all wanting to be outdone. 

   As if on cue, the previously face-paced song faded into a slow, more relaxed holiday tune of _Perfect Christmas_.

   When the two stepped onto the dance floor, surrounded by flashing lights and other people pairing off, Kai noticed Hilary's slight hesitation.

   "You…okay?"

   Hilary jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and blushed an even brighter tint of red. "Y-yeah." She stuttered, throwing a quick nervous glance over the taller boy's broad shoulders. The crowd of jealous fan girls were glaring at her again. It was getting awfully annoying…and extremely unnerving. 

   "Ignore them." Kai said.

   Hilary nodded and cautiously wrapped her arms around the neck of the lone wolf, trying to ignore the tingling sensation that shot through her arms as their arms made contact. Kai and the brunette found themselves both blushing, but both averted their glances elsewhere, not knowing what else to do. 

   After about a minute of silent swaying to the Christmassy beat, Hilary suddenly spoke up. "Mmm, Kai?" she lifted her head from off his sturdy shoulder.

   "Yeah?"

  "Why did you care if I got drunk or not?"

   _Oh shit. Back to that question again._ Maybe if he pretended he didn't hear it…

   "Kai?"

   _Damn it…_

   "Yeah?" he replied, almost incoherently.

   "Why'd you care if I got drunk or not?"

   _Because I care about you, damn it! That's why!_ A little voice, somewhere deep inside of him answered. "Great, now I'm hearing voices in my head…"

   "What?" Hilary looked up and eyed Kai suspiciously. "What voices?"

   "Nothing. Forget it," Kai retorted immediately. "I just said that I didn't want you to get drunk because the little voices in my head told me to stop you."

   _Oh fuck. Did I just say that out loud?!_ Kai panicked mentally. _Hanging around Tyson so much has caused his oh so great trait of stupidity to rub off on me. What an idiotic thing to say! Oh damn… _

   "_Right_, Kai." Hilary shook her head with slight smirk on her face. "I think someone had a little too much eggnog." She glanced up over Kai's shoulder. "Besides Tyson, I mean." She laughed. "Come on, Kai, really now."

   As Kai stared back into her ruby coloured orbs, he swore that his heart must've skipped a beat. She was so beautiful, like an angel or something. Here, right in front of him, in his arms—an angel. In the room, dimly lit with Christmas lights reflecting off a giant disco ball, Kai felt like he was floating on air, lost in two enchanting pools of light. It felt like it was only him and Hilary in their own little world, away from everyone else, away from everything…

   "Kai?" Hilary voiced her concern. "Are you okay?"

   Why was everyone asking him that lately? "Yeah." He mumbled, his earlier thoughts melting away like a single snowflake on the palm of his hand.

   "Why did you care Kai?"

   "I…" Kai forced himself to look away, not wanting to lose himself in her brilliant eyes once again. "I didn't want you to get hurt." He replied so softly that Hilary almost missed his reply.

   Then the slow song ended and a faster song blared through the speakers. The couples on the dance floor broke away, most of them wishing that the song could've lasted just a minute longer. That majority included Kai and Hilary, who despite themselves, reluctantly pulled apart.

   "You…didn't want me to get hurt?" Hilary breathed, as she and Kai found themselves walking off the dance floor. 

   Thinking of quick excuse, as to not make himself look stupid, Kai hastily replied, "That's what friends are for, right?" Good, he had partially saved his tough reputation…kind of…

    "Oh yeah, right!" the brunette added with a quick nod. "That's what friends are for, alright!" She laughed nervously. "Excuse me for a moment."

   With that, Hilary pushed her way through the crowd until she was safely outside on the dojo porch. 

   "I am so stupid!" she scolded herself, her face still red from embarrassment. "Of _course_ the great Kai wouldn't be interested in a girl like me! We're just friends! I am such an idiot to think that _he_ would like _me_! Out of all those pretty fangirls of his, he wouldn't choose _me_! If I like someone, it doesn't mean that he likes me back!" she rambled on angrily and turned to face the wooden dojo wall. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" she continued to bang her head on the wall. 

   After bashing her head three times on the wooden planks, Hilary decided that that was enough, as her head was now spinning slightly. "Owww…" she moaned, rubbing her sore head. "I _am_ an idiot."

   Now, Hilary could swear she heard bells ringing in her head. Actually, they sounded a lot more like sirens…

   "Hanging around Tyson too much, eh?" a familiar voice echoed from behind her.

   Startled, Hilary gave a small gasp and whirled around. "How long have you been standing there?" she demanded.

   Kai raised an eyebrow, "Long enough to see your attempts to crack your skull open." He strode over towards the shivering girl. "It's warmer _inside_ you know."

   Hilary forced herself to stop shivering, at least until Kai left. "_I was leaving_." She replied through clenched teeth. 

   "Coat?"

   "I didn't bring one." Hilary lied, just wanting to be left alone with her thoughts and not wanting to have another embarrassing moment witnessed by The Great Kai. "I'm going home. Later." She walked off abruptly, leaving Kai staring after her from the dojo doorway.

   "Gah, what does _he_ know anyway?" Hilary, still blushing madly, strode grumpily down the snow-covered streets. "Don't answer that." She answered her own question angrily.

   As Hilary neared the steps that led down to the river, she rubbed her hands and arms together, trying to keep warm without her parka. _Think about warm stuff. Nice, hot, sunny things…Happy things…Things that aren't so confusing…_ she thought to herself. A harsh gust of cold air blew past her and with it, took away all her warm thoughts. 

   "Ok-kay." Her teeth chattered and she decided to sing a Christmas carol. "Ch-chestnuts r-roasting on an op-p-pen f-fire. J-jack Frost nip-pp-ping at your n-nose…" she shivered. "N-next song…J-jingle bells! J-jingle b-bells! J-jingle all the w-way—Hey!" the brunette exclaimed as her holly hairpin flew away with another burst of frosty air. "Oh forget this!" she grumbled, stamping her foot on the freshly fallen snow with impatience.

   "Hey there pretty lady," a slurred, very drunken masculine voice came from behind her. Eyes wide, Hilary whirled around to face a very dizzy looking maroon-haired Majestic that she had met earlier at the party. "Plant one right here precious…" his voice was very hard to decipher and he kept messing up his words.

   "I don't think so…" she turned to leave, but stopped immediately when his firm hand grasped her shoulder. "Eeeewww…" Hilary cringed, smelling the thick, nasty scent of alcohol on his breath. "Look, I've got to go. It was nice meeting you…"she tried to yank her arm away from him, but he held fast.

   "Aw, so soon?" came Johnny's garbled sentence. In the dimly lit street, he looked much more scarier than he had only a couple of hours ago. He spun her around to face him. "Come on, just one!" he puckered his lips and Hilary felt bile rising in her throat.

   Hilary whimpered, as another one of her attempts to escape failed. _Oh, God_. She was really going to barf now.

   "Fuck off, McGregor!" Hilary felt a wave of pure relief wash over her at the sound of the familiar voice.

   Hilary took that moment of surprise to kick her captor where it counted.

   "Ow! Bloody Hell!" Johnny shoved himself away from the girl and curled up into a ball on the frozen ground.

   But just when Hilary thought she had gotten away, she got up to run but slipped suddenly on a patch of hidden ice and began to tumble down the slippery slope. Landing at the bottom of the snowy hill, she started to pick her self up when…

   *_Crick*_

    Her eyes widened at the barely audible, yet horrific sound.

    _Oh, hell no_.

   *_Crack*_

   Squeezing her eyes shut, Hilary gave a loud shriek for help before the thin layer of ice gave out from beneath her and she plunged into the frigid river below.

  __

~*~

_Silver Swiftness:_ Dun dun dun! Ooooh, a cliffie! Anyways, what did you think? And if you think that falling into the icy cold river was bad for Hilary…wait until you see what happens next! 

Thank you very much for the reviews on the last chapter and I'm hoping for some more this chapter… ^_~ lol! Just kidding…okay, not really! But I'd still really appreciate some reviews!

L8er dayz!


	5. Get Me Through December

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs that happen to pop up. Perfect Christmas

Chapter 5: _Get Me Through December_

   "Aw, so soon?"

   The slate-haired boy's ears perked up at the familiar voice. Minus the drunken tone.

   _McGregor_. The boy growled and began to pick up his pace. _What the heck is he up to now?_

   Kai rounded the corner of the sleet-covered street, just in time to see a petite brunette girl attempt to detach herself from the drunken Scot. 

   "What the…" the girl whimpered and as she tilted her head away, Kai instantly recognized her. _Hilary? What is she…?_ Kai's crimson eyes widened as the flame-haired boy tried to make his move. "Fuck off, McGregor!"

    Johnny's attention was instantly diverted towards Kai, his expression dazed…but nonetheless, frightened. But his look of fright quickly turned into an expression of pure agony as Hilary delivered him a swift kick.

   Face contorted and red with rage, Johnny cursed aloud, "Ow! Bloody Hell!"

   Kai couldn't help but smirk. It sure served him right. But Kai's moment of smugness came to an abrupt end, as Hilary's scream rippled and shattered through the once peaceful night.

   Hilary!

   Without a moment wasted, Kai bounded past a whimpering Majestic and slid expertly down the slippery hillside. When he reached the frozen riverside, Kai was just in time to the brunette slip through the large crack in the ice and continue to stream down the rapid flowing river.

   "Help!" Hilary cried just before her head disappeared under the dark currents. 

   "Hilary!" Kai dashed to the river's edge, but large chunks of the remaining icy island floated down the dark river. Frantic, Kai's head shot a glance down the waterway at the sound of Hilary's shrill scream. "Hold on!"

    Heart beating wildly, Kai ran along the frozen riverbank, silently praying that she'd be all right. To him, each long stride he took to get closer to the drifting girl felt like it took forever. It was like he was stuck in slow motion and the rushing water of the canal was in fast-forward. With every heart-pounding step, he felt like she was getting even farther and farther away. 

   But…that couldn't be possible…could it? Kai sure hoped not.

   _Come on, come on!_  He urged, his gaze darting every which way. _There has got to be _one_ damned tree around here._

   There.

   Not too far ahead, a single tree with snow-coated branches could barely be made out against the dark, starless sky. Perfect.

   Shooting another fearful glance at the river, the Russian boy caught sight of the girl draped over a lone, icy rock near the water's edge. She looked frozen and like she was barely hanging on. 

    "Hang on, Hilary! I'm coming!" he yelled, his voice hoarse from running against the stinging cold wind. "Let it_ RIP_!" Kai launched Dranzer with incredible power at the distant tree. "Let's take down this toothpick! Dranzer!" he summoned the great bird of fire to attack and within a matter of seconds, the tree was sent crashing down into the river. "Yes!" The long wooden trunk had landed beside Hilary's frozen island and Hilary's eyes fluttered open with a start.

   Stuffing his gear back into his pockets, Kai made his way nimbly across the fallen tree towards Hilary. "Grab my hand." He told her sternly as he took her clammy hands. The slate-haired boy scooped Hilary up and sprinted back across the log. As soon as he crouched down to check the girl over, the makeshift bridge was hit by a miniature iceberg-torpedo. From the sheer impact, it was instantly reduced into splinters and was quickly washed away. 

   "K-Kai?" Hilary's strained voice came quietly as she pushed herself up and away from him. "Th-thanks." She mumbled, her face red and stinging. "Well, I b-better be g-getting h-home. I-it's r-really late." She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. But after taking only a few strenuous steps, she collapsed onto the frozen ground, completely exhausted. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't feel _any_ of her limbs.

   "Here." Kai knelt down beside her. "Get on my back and hang on." He ordered sternly.

   _Okay, who doe she think he is to order me around like that?_ Hilary thought angrily. "I can walk fine by myself!" she stood up wobily and limped over to the icy stairway that led to the streets, despite the stinging sensation that coursed through her legs with every agonizing step. Cringing slightly, she retorted back to Kai, "See? I can do this on my own." She spoke stubbornly through clenched teeth.

   Just as her leg was about to give way again, the lone wolf blader appeared by her side to support her.

   "Just shut up, swallow your pride, and get on my back before I change my mind." When the brunette made no move, Kai continued. "Fine. I take it you want you want to stay here and freeze to death with the drunken ass hole?"

   With that, Hilary's crimson eyes widened and she looped her arms around his neck with a small whimper.

   As Kai hefted Hilary onto his broad back, his head tilted downwards, hiding his ever so victorious smirk from the moonlight.

   "So where exactly do you live?" Kai asked the shivering brunette, an unmistakable tone of urgency in his voice. If they didn't get somewhere warm fast, Hilary would get pneumonia or freeze to death. Stifling a shiver by grinding his teeth together, the Russian boy felt the wetness of the girl's garments trickle down his bare neck.

   "M-make a right h-here and m-m-my house is the f-first on the l-left." Hilary replied, snuggling closer into Kai's sweatshirt, her teeth chattering non-stop.

   In return, Kai just grunted and shifted her weight before picking up the pace. He hated to admit it, but it was getting colder and the damned wind was no help at all. It didn't help that Hilary was somehow getting heavier and heavier by the second.

   When they had reached Hilary's quaint little house, decorated with tons of twinkling multi-coloured lights, Kai let Hilary down and rung the doorbell. After no hint of acknowledgment from inside the residence, Kai rung again and again, getting more impatient.

   "I g-guess they're n-n-not h-home yet." Hilary chattered, huddling against the wall and looking oh so very pathetic, in Kai's opinion. "F-flower p-pot." She pointed a shaky arm towards a large ceramic flowerpot, to the left side of the door.

   Kai shot a glance of bewilderment at the snow-covered piece of pottery and back at the brunette. 

   "D-d-dig in the farthest c-corner."

   _Dig? She wanted him to scrounge around in the flowers? Shouldn't they be finding a way to get inside?_ Nevertheless, Kai heaved a sigh of annoyance and shuffled over to the pot reluctantly and began to dig. After burrowing a small ditch in the farthest part of the pot, Kai finally understood Hilary's odd request when he unearthed a small gold key. _So they hide their keys in their flowerbeds._ Kai snorted. _Show's how secure their house is._

   After unlocking the door and replacing the gold key in its place of hiding, Kai carried Hilary inside and got to work on preparing some hot chocolate in the kitchen.

   "Hey, Kai." Hilary said quietly as she sat down on the couch, next to her rescuer. "You can dry your clothes in the dryer if you want. I can get you some of my dad's stuff if you want."

   Kai grunted a reply and took off his sweatshirt, as well as the white muscle shirt underneath. 

   _Oh. My. Lord._ Hilary gaped when she saw his well-built, six-pack. _Damn, he is fine._ She couldn't help but think. Then she shook her head, wondering how _that_ had wandered into her thoughts. Nonetheless, Hilary continued to stare in absolute awe at the captain of the Bladebreakers.

   As Kai grabbed his scarf, along with Hilary's wet clothing from the heap on the floor and strode silently towards the laundry room, he felt like he was being watched. Tilting his head backwards, in direction of the living room, he saw the brunette staring at him in a dazed state. 

   "Hil?"

   "Yeah." She answered, still in her little trance.

   Kai couldn't help himself and snickered. "Stop ogling and drink your hot chocolate before it gets cold."

   That did it. With a surprised "huh?" and a quick shake of her head, Hilary tinged rose and turned away.

   Smirking, the still shirtless Kai shook his head and disappeared in the laundry room. When Kai returned with a freshly dried sweatshirt on, he found the girl sitting curled up at one corner of the couch, sipping her mug of steaming cocoa.

   She looked up at the slate-haired boy and gave a small smile. "Sit Kai. I know how much you like leaning against doorframes and walls, but the sofa is a lot more comfortable." She patted the seat beside her and Kai found himself accepting her offer and sitting down beside her. 

   He took his mug of hot chocolate and began to drink. After sitting and sipping their drinks in silence, Hilary finally got the courage to break it. "Kai. Thank you."

   "Hm?" Kai answered, taken completely off-guard by the statement. 

   "You know…" Hilary's cheeks returned to a rosy state. Whether it was from the steam of the drink or something completely different, Kai didn't know. "For saving my life. I mean, you didn't just save my life today. You saved me from the falling rocks on that strange island, in summer, too."

   _She remembered that? I don't even…Okay, maybe I do remember. But it's not like I think about it everyday…Well, I don't think about it every minute…_Kai let out an involuntary growl. _Hey…it had been on impulse! _He defended himself. _She and Kenny were right there, and so were the rocks. If any sensible person had been there, they would have pushed them out of the way too…right?_ Kai thought hurriedly. Why else would he have saved her? She _was_ his friend after all.

   "And when I fell off that cliff…"

   After that, Kai's mind had flown elsewhere and had completely tuned out to Hilary's voice.

_   What the heck is she blabbering on about now?_ Kai thought, his right eyebrow cocked up at her in slight amusement. It had been a good fifteen minutes—and she was still going! Sure, Kai knew he should have been listening, but he really could not help it. So, to make it look like he was listening intently, every once in a while he would nod casually or put in a muffled grunt. _Okay, that's it._ He sat up abruptly, but not abruptly enough for the girl to notice.

   Silently, he stepped over to the brunette and squatted down in front of her, so that they were face to face. Noses only about an inch or two apart, Kai looked Hilary straight in her ruby eyes and told her in a firm tone: "Shut up."

   "Wha-what?" Hilary stammered, quite taken back at the evident rudeness in his voice.

   "I said '_shut up_'." Kai shrugged nonchalantly as he fixed himself back on the couch, beside the glowering brunette.

   Blushing furiously with a complete loss for words, Hilary just stared at the silent boy in disbelief. _How dare he be so rude in her house!_ "Why don't _you_ shut up?!" she cried, almost in tears. "This is _my_ house, so don't you dare tell me to shut up! I was just trying to thank you, and that's what I get in return?! Why, you're just a--" her string of angry words came to an sudden stop when two crimson orbs appeared directly in front of her own.

   "You talk too much, you know that?" And without waiting for another angry reply, Kai found his lips being drawn closer and closer to hers…

   _*Bong! Bong! Bong!* _

   Hilary jumped back in surprise when Kai flinched and jerked away. With a quick glance at the antique grandfather clock in the corner of the room, Kai got up to fetch his scarf and boots.

   "Look, it's getting late. I've gotta' go." Kai muttered briskly as he tossed on his scarf and disappeared into the front hall. 

   _Had he really been that close to…_

   "Thanks again, Kai."

   Kai's ears perked up and he answered, "Don't mention it." Then he paused and placed his hand on the door. "No really, _don't_."

   _Wow,_ Hilary thought to herself,_ That was really…a close one…_She grimaced. A close…what?

   "Oh well, I guess I'd better get to bed before Mom and Dad get home…" she rounded the corner and entered the front hall—and found herself staring up into familiar crimson red eyes. "Uh…hey, Kai. I thought you were…" her voice drifted off after one glance at the boy's grim expression. "Kai? What's the matter? What happened--?"

   "Ahem."

   Hilary looked behind the tall, well-built Russian to see a police officer standing in the front hallway. "Oh! Er, hello officer. What can I do for you…?"

   At the sight of the policeman, Hilary's heart began to race. _Was something wrong? _She thought, her mind saturated with panic. _Had something bad happened? What if someone had been killed? Or maybe there was a shooting back at the party?_ She gasped. _Oh My God! What if Tyson has gotten so drunk that he…? Or maybe that freaky drunk guy that tried to kiss me…? Oh no! Or what if—_Gory scenarios of bloodshed and accidents filled her mind. _Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God--!_

   "Miss Hilary Hirata, I presume?" Hilary's thoughts dispersed at the sound of the authorative tone. 

   Hilary nodded, "Yes." Hilary replied in a slightly doubtful tone. "Do come in, sir. Have a seat. You too, Kai." She ushered her guests into the living room.

   "Ahem. I'm very sorry that I have to be the one to inform you of this…_matter_. But, I guess, someone has to, right?" The officer tugged at the collar of his jacket nervously. 

   Kai and Hilary shot each other glances, as if silently saying '_Would you please just get on with it?!_'. 

   "Ahem, anyways. I have come to inform you of a terrible event that has occurred, not too long ago. About only a mere hour ago, there was a horrific accident caused by a drunk driver a large hidden patch of ice." The man turned to look Hilary straight in the eyes. 

   The brunette shivered involuntarily at the unmistakeable tenseness in the atmosphere. Whatever he had to tell her, Hilary was definite that it wasn't good. It's not that she wanted to be right, if anything, she wanted her theory to be proven wrong. She just wanted everything to be all right. And that's why she hated the moment when the officer had finally decided to tell her. It was something that would change her life forever.

   "Miss Hirada, your parents were involved in that incident." She heard him say. "And, I'm sorry, but the car crash was fatal. Your parents they…didn't survive."

   _'Your parents…they didn't survive.'_ The words hit Hilary hard and felt exactly like a slap across the face. She felt a large lump forming in her throat and tears were beginning to well in her eyes. "P-pardon?" she squeaked out meekly, hoping that maybe she had heard the officer wrong. _Please don't say it. Please don't say it!_

   "Ahem, your parents didn't survive the crash. But don't worry, they didn't feel a thing as they died on impact." The officer hurriedly tried to make the girl feel better about the situation.

   _'They didn't feel a thing…They died on impact…' _anger burned inside Hilary. _What the heck was that supposed to mean? Was that supposed to make me feel better? Oh, they died on impact and didn't feel a thing! Well, that was nice to know! _ She thought sarcastically. _They died. My parents were murdered by a stupid drunk driver! _

   "Ahem, well, I better be going." The policeman stood up and began to walk hurriedly to the door. "Again, my deepest consolations, Miss Hirada." He tipped his hat to her. "Oh! And maybe your boyfriend would like to spend the night with you?" He looked over expectantly at Kai. "Just for, _ahem,_ you know, moral support if anything. Merry Christmas to you both."

   With that the officer left the little house with a clatter of the shutting door and left the homestead in an unnerving silence.

   _Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas?! What the heck is wrong with this guy?_ Hilary thought bitterly, her vision blurring with hot tears. _My parents are _dead_. _

_   How merry is that?_

~*~

_Silver Swiftness:_ Hey guys! Did any of you catch the little hint of the accident I gave in the last chapter? Probably not, but if you remember when Hilary was banging her head into the wall and she thought her heard _sirens_… ^_~ 

   I'm still in decision stage about whether this is going to turn out as a TyHil or a KaiHil fic…Oh yeah! Where it said something about Kai staying the night at Hilary's house—don't you dare think about those nasty thoughts, okay? o_O Because that's not gonna happen in _this_ fic, dudes! And about Hilary's last name being "Hirada", it's not really her last name…I just made it up.

   Just so you know, I don't think I'll be updating my fics very often, as exams are coming up real fast. _ I'll still try to update as soon as I can though. 

   Thanks for the reviews and don't forget to review this chapter! You know you _wanna_! ^_~


	6. Down Heartbreak Lane

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs that happen to pop up. Perfect Christmas

Chapter 6: _Down Heartbreak Lane_

   "Whoa…" Tyson murmured aloud, in a very dazed manner. His eyes had just begun to focus on swirls of colourful spheres of light that seemed to spin around his head continuously. The dizzy boy groaned as a throbbing pain registered in his brain. "Ugh…my head hurts…Why am I on the ground? Why does my head hurt so much? Hm, the ceiling looks awfully like the underside of the table…I'm hungry…" then the reality of the party dawned on Tyson. "Crap! The party!"

   The navy-haired boy leaped up from his bed of squished plastic cups that had once been filled over and over again with spiked punch, only to slip on them and land squarely on his backside. "Owie…that smarts." He rubbed his head gingerly. Then, his cobalt eyes widened and he leaped back up onto his feet. "Crap! The party! Dammit!" His head rammed upwards into the table top above him, causing the entire refreshment table to topple over.

   Hurriedly, Tyson jumped up again, only to slip again on the plastic cups. "Owwwww…" he moaned, once again lying in a pile of cups. Dragging himself across the floor, and out from under the table, Tyson saw people dancing very drunkenly in the middle of the dojo. "What are all these people doing here…Crap! The party!" he scrambled to his feet—only to crash right into someone.

   "Eh…Tyson?" Tyson looked up to see a startled and concerned Max. "Are you okay?"

   "Oh, hey Max! I was just…uh…looking for Hilary! Yeah that's it! I can't find her anywhere!" Tyson laughed nervously. 

   "Um, I hate to say this Tyson, but you're not going to find Hilary under the table. She already left, and she didn't look too happy either." Max raised an eyebrow curiously at Tyson, who seemed to swaying in his place. "Tyson, are you sure you're okay?"

   "Yeah, I'm fine." Tyson said hurriedly. "But what do you mean '_she already left_'?"

   "I mean that she left! Poof, gone! Asta-la-vista! Bye-bye!" Max gestured towards the dojo's sliding doors. 

   "She's…gone?!" Tyson gaped. "Oh crap!" he dashed towards the door, grabbing his jacket along the way. "Thanks Max, take care of the party for me, will ya'? Ciao!" he took off into the biting cold without waiting for a reply from the speechless American.

   "Wait!"

   Tyson spun around and caught the small, lumpy, packaged projectile. Smiling back at his friend, without even wondering how he had known, Tyson shouted a "Thanks man!" before he slipped on a patch of ice. The clumsy Bladebreaker scrambled back onto his feet sheepishly and scampered off down the street into the swirling white snow.

   _I have to get out of here._ Was the first thought that came to Hilary's head as soon as the idiotic officer drove away. _I'm not going to let Kai see me cry anymore…I am not going to embarrass myself in front of him again. _She sniffed and wiped her sleeve across her eyes. _I can't just kick people out of my house…it's not like he would listen anyway. _

   "And where do you think you're going?" Kai's deep voice called after her as she put on her spare black fitting jacket, scarf, and mittens. 

   "Out." she huffed angrily and stormed out the door. Running down the sleet-covered street, Hilary ran into the whirl of snow with her head cast downwards. "And away from _you_."

   "Out." The brunette had retorted before running out of the house and back into the cold.

   _Not again._ Kai rolled his eyes and growled. _Does she have to be such an idiot sometimes?_

   _I guess I'd better go after her. _Kai put on his scarf and grabbed the spare set of keys that lay on the coffee table. 

   _Turkeys are for thawing out at Christmas time, not stubborn ass girls with emotional problems._

   "Hilary?" Kai had finally found the brunette leaning against the railing of the bridge that over-looked the canal. She was staring motionlessly into the fast moving current below her. Her face was tilted downwards, shadowing her eyes that Kai assumed were filled with tears. 

   "Go away." Hilary replied in choked-up sobs, not daring to look in his direction. She didn't want him to see her crying. She didn't want him to see her so…weak. Having had him carry her home was enough. She didn't need this too.

   "No." she felt his familiar presence right behind her. "I'm not leaving without you. You're going to freeze to death if you don't come back home." 

   But Hilary wouldn't move. Instead, Hilary put a foot up onto the bridge siding and hoisted herself over. Standing with her back against the ledge, she stared unwaveringly into the dark, cascade of water below her. Beckoning her.

   _If I do this now, it'll all be over. _Hilary closed her eyes and tried to reassure herself. _Don't think of what everyone else will think. They'll just think your stupid to worry so much. Ignore them. The pain will be over soon and I can be free. I can be back with Mom and Dad. We can be happy together. _Tears were reforming in her eyes. Was she really going to do this? _Don't think about them, don't think about them._ She told herself. _Just think of the pain and suffering you won't have to go through. _She took a deep breath. _It's all for the best…_

   "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Kai's angry voice sent shivers coursing down her spine. 

   Hilary cringed and froze in place, but remained silent. She felt a warm hand latch onto her arm, trying to restrain her from doing something stupid, that she might regret later on.

   He harshly spun the brunette around to face him and looked her deep in the eyes. The look on his face made Hilary want to…to…

   Cry. Hug him. Run. Scream. Smack him. Laugh. Shrink back in fear. Smile. Hate him…

   _Love him.  _

   His eyes were so…different. She had never in her life seen anyone look at her like that. It made her blush and she felt her expression softening as she gazed into his deep auburn eyes. They were filled with so much emotion…all the emotion that Kai seemed to have hidden away for so long. Hilary could swear she saw all the hidden grief, pain, sadness, loneliness in them. But she could also see…concern. His concern for _her_.

   And it felt like he was staring right through her. Like he could read her thoughts. God, how Hilary hated how he did that. 

   But she couldn't hate _him_.

   "Don't jump, Hil. You'll regret it. I-I'll regret it."

   _Did he just say…what I think he said…_   

   Suddenly, Hilary found herself being lifted back over the rail and onto the bridge with gentle, sturdy hands. As soon as her feet touched the hard concrete of the bridge, she threw herself into Kai and buried her face into his sweatshirt. Feeling the safety of being close to him, someone who cared, she let a river of tears flow from her ruby eyes and cried. 

   When Kai felt the girl latch herself onto him, he was…surprised, to say the least. It was quite odd to have someone so physically close to him. But it kind of felt…Oddly, strangely, amazingly, could you believe…nice? Their closeness was warm, comforting, and all together different. But it felt good.

   Not having been in a situation as such before and not ever having any female friends, Kai didn't really know what to do. For the first time in his life, the Russian boy felt helpless as he watched Hilary sob into his shirt. Should he push her away, like he would have done to everyone else, in his regular state of mind? 

   _But then again_… a little voice inside his head began to argue.

   _Shut up before I mentally kick you out of my head for good!_ Kai threatened the little voice in his head. He did _not_ need to have anyone thinking he was some deranged little schizophrenic.

   _But then again, you aren't in your regular state of mind, are you Kai?_ Did that stupid little voice ever give up?

   _What do you mean?_

  _Well, for one thing, you didn't correct the policeman when he called you Hilary's "boyfriend"._ Kai could swear he heard a faint snicker from somewhere inside his head.

   The boy gave a low growl. Damn that stupid voice! But, it was right. Why hadn't he corrected him? Correction; why hadn't he punched the lights out of the guy? Why was he arguing with himself? Come to think of it…why was he listening to a little voice in his head in the first place? And why was he suddenly getting a very damp sweatshirt?

   Oh yeah. _She_ was pouring her eyes out into his favourite, practically brand new sweatshirt. 

   _Dude, it's only water._ The voice reassured him. _And besides, you should be comforting her anyway. _

   _Dude_? Okay, now Kai's brain was speaking like Tyson. And _that_ was something to be scared of. _It looks like she's already pretty comfortable right now to me._ He pointed out.

   _Just do it!_

   And then much to his annoyance, Kai found himself putting his arms around the sobbing Hilary in a comforting manner.  

   _See?_ The voice taunted. _Wasn't that easy?_

_  Oh, shut up._

   "Okay…so Hilary's house _isn't_ this way." Tyson stated as he stopped at the bend of a dimly lit street. "And it wasn't that way…and definitely not _that_ way. That way is a dead end, that street is a court, that street has Mrs. Whatsherface and her grumpy old cats living on it so I'm not gonna go there anyway, and…crap. Where the heck did Hilary say she lived again?" Tyson cringed and glanced around the snowy streets desperately searching for a sign. 

   Why oh why hadn't he paid more attention to where she lived?

   "Um…let's see. There was something to do with the river… Or was it the _bridge_ over the river?" the navy-haired boy shrugged and ran towards the bridge.

    Hilary sniffed and snuggled her head deeper into the warm folds of Kai's navy hooded sweatshirt. She needed this. She really needed a good cry and she was really glad that Kai had let her cry on him. But what really surprised her, was that Kai had put his arms around her…like he cared. Wow. That made Hilary feel really special. It also made her blush like crazy. 

   When she had finished crying, Hilary turned her head to rest it on Kai's shoulder. It was so peaceful. So…_perfect_. 

   Hilary sincerely wished that she could hang on to this moment forever. It felt so good and she never wanted it to end.

   "Kai?" she whispered softly, finally daring to look up into his crimson eyes. 

   "Yeah?"

    "Thank you…again."

    "No." Kai took her chin in his hand and tilted it up towards her. "Thank _you_." And with that, he lowered his head to meet her smooth pink lips in a warm embrace…

   "HEY! HILA—_whoa…_!" the person's voice stopped in mid-sentence, gaping at the unbelievable sight before his eyes. Although very familiar, the voice sent shivers coursing up Hilary's spine at that moment.

   _Oh my God._

   '_Holy shit_' were the first words that came to Tyson's mind as he rounded the bend that led to the river crossing. 

   Okay, maybe those weren't exactly the first words that came to mind. At first glance, he had seen the familiar hairstyle of the brunette friend he had been looking for, and had then shouted out at the top of his lungs to catch her attention. Big mistake. At second glance, Tyson had noticed that her back was turned to him…and she was _attached_ to someone else. Literally. And that's when he realized she was attached to…Kai.

   _Kai._ The unfeeling, lone wolf captain of the Bladebreakers. _Kai, _the emotionless loner who had always said that emotions were for the weak. _Kai_, one of his friends that had known about his little _crush_ he had on Hilary and had never relented on teasing him about it. 

   And Hilary. She _knew_ that he liked her. He had told her that he had loved her…wasn't that enough? What did she want from him? What did Kai have, that _he_ didn't?

   That's what opened the gate of frustration deep inside Tyson and let all the anger flow into him, like a hot river of molten lava. And man, did that hurt. 

   _Dude, just stick to the plan._ He told himself as calmly as he could. _Pretend that you didn't see anything._ Then Tyson backtracked on his thoughts. _But how can I pretend I didn't see anything? Aw, screw the plan!_  

   Tyson walked over briskly and steadily to his two friends on the bridge, his head bowed so that his navy hair shadowed his eyes. Even though he couldn't see their faces, he knew that they were looking at him with concern. But at the moment, Tyson really didn't care. He just wanted to do what he came to do and get it over with as fast as possible.

   "Here." Tyson muttered in an eerily calm and dangerously low tone of voice that even _he_ could barely recognize. Then he reached deep into his coat pocket and shoved its contents into Hilary's unsuspecting hands. With that he took a deep breath, spun around, and ran.

~*~

_Silver Swiftness: _Yeah, okay. I admit, by typing up this chapter of PC I'm procrastinating by trying to get away from studying for those stupid exams. . Gah, it's my first year of ever having real exams and man does it suck! Anyways, there was quite a bit of angst on Tyson and Hilary's part…and there might be a bit more coming up later. Oh, and I'll try to have some more TyHil in the next chapter(s), too. Thanks a bunch for the lovely reviews --they're like the fuel for my writing! _ Okay, so that doesn't make much sense, but oh well. My brain's turning to mush with all this studying… o_O

Sorry for my complaining…I'll stop that now. 

Oh yeah…I reached the 50 reviews mark!!! ^-^ Hopefully that shall add to my momentum in fic writing…and exams writing! ~_^Please don't forget to review and thanks for reading this chapter of Perfect Christmas!

And sorry for not updating in so long!


	7. All I Want For Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs that happen to pop up. Perfect Christmas

Chapter 7: _All I Want For Christmas_

   _Oh God, please no. Someone tell me that Tyson didn't think what I think he thought._

   Hilary froze on the spot, speechless when Tyson shoved something into her hands and took off. 

   "Tyson! Wait!" she called after him, her hand outstretched towards the boy as he disappeared quickly into the mass of swirling white snow. 

   _How could he just leave like that? Without even letting them explain?_

   "Tyson…" her voice drifted off softly and her extended hand slowly recoiled, the pain in her eyes very evident to Kai. 

   Hot tears were beginning to form in her eyes again. This was not supposed to happen. She grasped the small package in her hand tightly and held it up to her chest. 

   "Tyson…"

   As if frozen in time, Hilary continued to stare blankly into the distance, where Tyson had vanished from sight. Again, unsure of what to do, Kai found himself staring at the silent brunette. And what he saw in her eyes…Kai would never forget.

   Eyes locked on some place ahead of her, beyond the bridge, Hilary remained motionless but Kai could still read the unmistakable look on her face. Her ruby eyes were welled-up with tears and filled with longing. Her bottom lip was quivering and her entire face was filled with sadness. Her hands were clenched so tightly around the little box that Tyson had given her, that her knuckles were turning white. Just from that expression, could the Russian boy see how big of a mess he had created. 

   _So she does like him then._ Kai thought, feeling more hurt and rejected than ever. _And he likes her back. I knew I shouldn't have let my feelings for her get the best of me. I just ended up screwing everyone over…both of my friends…and myself. _The boy felt a strange, large lump forming in his throat and he began to back away from the bridge slowly. _Stupid emotions. They always get in the way. _

   Kai turned swiftly and strode away from the girl briskly.

   _That's why emotions are for losers._

   Upon hearing the sound of abrupt movement, Hilary jumped and snapped out of her little trance. She whirled around just in time to see Kai dash away from the bridge and disappear into the shadows without a word. 

   "Kai, wait!" she called after him desperately. "Please, don't leave me too!"

   But the only reply that Hilary received was the hissing and howling of the fierce winter winds as they whipped through the dark, silent night.

   Then, Hilary involuntarily let out a loud wail and sank to her knees. Leaning her back up against the bridge rail, she hugged her knees tightly to her chest and sobbed into the sleeve of her jacket. But as she tilted her head to the side, something hard touched her cheek and she remembered Tyson's gift.

   Having nothing better to do but sulk, Hilary tentatively poked at the lumpy little package, wrapped in dark red and green striped paper and tied with a floppy green bow. She had a hard time finding a place to start ripping off the paper, as it was completely swathed with clear tape. She couldn't help but snicker after she had finally found an opening and tore off the lumpy wrapping. 

   Underneath the messing wrapping job, was a small velvet casing of midnight blue. She curiously pried the plush box open and gasped at what lay inside. Eyes wide and again beginning to fill with tears, she placed the box in her lap and lifted the thin silver chain into her hands. Dangling elegantly from the chain was a silver snowflake studded with tiny crystals set in an ornate little pattern.

   The necklace from the mall!

   Yes, it was the exact same piece of jewellery that she had been so mesmerized by the day she had helped Tyson with his last minute Christmas shopping. But when had he had the time to…Oh, that was it. He had probably bought it when they had gotten into another one of their little quarrels and she had ended up stalking off without him.

   "Oh, Tyson…!" she bit her lip as her heart panged with guilt. She had been so mean to him…and he had gotten her _this_. She clasped the necklace in her shaky hands and began to cry. 

   _Why'd he have to be so damn sweet?_ She thought, when she decided to pick herself up from the pile of snow beneath her. She was really starting to get cold again, not to mention wet from the snow. _And why'd I have to be so stupid? _

_   What have I gotten myself into now?_

   When Hilary had reached the warmth and comfort of her home, she changed into a new and warmer set of pyjamas and cuddled back up in her bed. There, she lay awake for hours trying to figure things out and set the current events straight in her mind.

    "So mom and dad are dead. Great, just what I needed and just in time for Christmas. Lisa's probably going coming over to look after me now. Some older sister she is. She's probably only coming to collect half of the will. Stupid Lisa. And Tyson…for running off on me, he's stupid too." 

_   But he gave you that necklace that you've wanted so badly._ A little voice reminded her.

"_Yeah_…"Hilary gave Tyson's gift a second thought. "That was really sweet of him…she scowled. But he's still stupid because he still took off and he ditched me at the party. Oh, and I can't forget Kai. He's a baka, too, for disappearing after Tyson showed up."

_   But he saved your life…_ the voice reminded her.

  "I know, I know! And I should be grateful—And I am! But that doesn't mean I have to turn into one of those sops who will bow down to him and obey his every command! I have my own life you know!" Hilary argued with herself.

   _Then do something with it. You can't just lie here and sulk forever. _The voice pointed out.

   "Who says I can't?" 

   _I do._

   "Who are you anyway?"

_   You._

  "What? What does that mean? You can't be me—_I'm_ me!"

_   We're both you._

" But…there's only one me! I can't…what?!?!?!"

    Hilary shook her head. "Okay, no more banging heads against walls." She ordered herself. "Girl, you are starting to go crazy. I am Hilary Hirata and I will not talk to myself because that is stupid."

   _You are stupid._

    "What?! No I'm not! Go away!"

   _Yes you are._

    "Well, if I'm stupid, then you are too because we're the same person!" Hilary huffed with a smirk. Somewhere inside her head, Hilary could have sworn the little voice had instantly shut up. 

    _You love Kai._ The little voice quipped after a long period of silence.

   "No I don't."

   _Yes you do._

   "No I don't."

   _Then you like Tyson._

   "No I don't."

   _But you don't like Kai, so you must like Tyson._

   "No…"

   _Well, you like one of them, don't you?_

   "Well…I like them both."

   _But you can't. It wouldn't be fair to the other. You have to choose._ The voice stated, like it was the simplest thing in the world. And oh how Hilary hated that.

   "I have to choose…" she whined to herself miserably. "But I don't want either of them to hate me and I want to love them both!" Hilary immediately stopped talking and re-thought her previous comment. "Arrrrggg! How can I sound so damn selfish?" she flipped over on her bed and let the softness of her pillow surround her face.

   "I _hate_ this."

   She lay there slumped in her bed for several minutes, still letting the whole event process.

   _Was it really all that hard for God to give me a non-messed up life? Sure, I'm thankful and all, but at times like these you can't help but wonder…_

    But really, that's all I want and that's all I've ever wanted. A Christmas where my whole family is actually able to get together—even my older sister who moved away and has never come back home since. Does that sound like a lot? Because I don't think it does. I mean, lots of families always have Christmas dinner together at least. But I've never had one because either one of my parents has been away or someone was sick or some other stupid excuse. That's all I've ever wanted; a simple holiday meal with my parents and my sister together. A perfect Christmas. 

   But now that's never going to happen.

   "So she likes Kai, then." Tyson shoved past his party guests and made his way across the room. Ignoring the odd stares that he was receiving, the navy-haired boy headed straight to his room with his head bowed sulkily and slammed the sliding door shut. He flopped onto his bed and let his saturated boots and jacket slump to the floor. "Hn, figures."

   The moody boy lay staring up at the ceiling, completely oblivious to the small fight that had erupted beyond his bedroom walls. He had entirely shut out the argument, crashing of bottles, and the frantic voices of Max and Ray as they tried to settle the dispute and usher the guests out of the dojo. Tyson had his mind on other things…

   "Hmph. What does Kai have that I don't?" Tyson muttered to himself, his arms casually behind his head. "Okay, maybe he has a _few_ more fan girls than me." Tyson paused. "Okay, maybe Kai has a _few hundred_ more fan girls than me." He shot a quick glance at himself in the mirror and forced a small smile, despite how he was feeling. "Okay, so maybe the almighty Hiwatari has a _lot_ more fan girls than me, but so what? I have great looks, an _amazing_ personality, and I'm the Beyblade World Champion…what more could a girl want?" 

   The boy sighed in exasperation and closed his eyes. "Who am I kidding?" He glanced briefly over at the wardrobe mirror that was positioned across his bed. "_Everyone_ loves the almighty Kai! They think he's so great…" Tyson sighed. "And maybe…just maybe he is." Tyson let his head crash into the soft comfort of his pillow. "Face it Tyson." He told himself. "Everyone likes Kai better than me. I mean, who would like a guy like me, right?"

   Tyson turned his head and looked out into the clear, starry night sky. It was beautiful. And looking at it made him think of _her_. It hurt him to think about her and how he'd never get her. How he never got what he wanted. Ever since the day he was born, it was like his life had been cursed. If he got something he wanted, there would always be a catch. Like, when he was born, his mother had died giving birth to him. He had never even met her. And when he had gotten to live with his Grandpa at the dojo…he couldn't live with his father who was always out on another expedition. 

   His curse had proved right once again. It was either that Tyson did what was right and supported Hilary with her decision or to do the wrong thing and…not do the right thing, even if it was what he wanted. 

   But shouldn't _he_ get something that he wanted for a change?

   "That's all I want." He whispered to no one in particular, gazing dazedly out his window into the night sky. "Something to go right for a change…even if," he paused momentarily, "Even if it's not for me. I just want my friends to be happy."

   And as if in reply, a single star, one of the tiniest in the night sky, pulsed brilliantly and twinkled unlike it had ever before.  

~*~

_Silver Swiftness: _Hey guys! Sorry for the short-ish chapter. I had a bit of a hard time thinking for what to put in this chapter. I'm also trying to come up with some other story/poem/play ideas for some writing contest that's coming up…some Young Author's Award thingie. By the way, I think I aced my first semester exams! Yayness! ^-^ Well…that is, not counting my stupid maths exam. _ But at least I didn't fail it.

   Another thing, if you're wondering, there probably won't be much more than two or three chapters left in this story. I'm trying my best not to drag it out, as Christmas finished like two months ago and I'm trying to figure out some ideas for some new fics (including a joint fic…if it gets sorted out). 

   So, please leave a review (and thanks for last chapter's reviews ^-^) and I'll update as soon as possible with the next chapter of Perfect Christmas! L8er Dayz!


	8. Same Old Confusion

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs that happen to pop up. (*cough*The chapter titles!*coughcough*) Perfect Christmas

Chapter 8: _Same Old Confusion_

   The pale morning sunlight shone through the large window of Hilary Hirada's bedroom and shone down upon the stirring girl. The teary-eyed brunette was still slightly dazed and she lay half-awake in the tangle of her bed sheets.

   "Is this real?" she asked her self confusedly. "Did last night…really happen?"

    Deep in her heart, Hilary knew the real answer. But in her mind, the truth was too horrible for her to even want to let the thought register in her brain as a reality. What had happened last night was so real and fresh in her thoughts that it was almost _too_ real. So real, that it was scary. 

   As another wave of sadness washed over her, she squeezed her eyes shut and silently prayed, wishing with all her might that this was just someone's idea of a sick joke. A _really_ sick joke. Or maybe that this was all just a dream and that she'd wake up to the sound of her mother hurrying about the kitchen, scrambling to finish up the last minute preparations to another lame Christmas party where only Hilary herself would show up.

   But it wasn't. It _was_ all too utterly real that it made her stomach churn around sickeningly with worry. 

   For one thing, what would happen to her now? Her parents were gone and the only thing close to what she could call family was a stupid older sister that had never been there for her. Hilary sincerely hoped that she didn't have to move out and live with her sister in New York. 

   New York. That was practically half way across the world! She couldn't even bear to imagine living that far away from her friends. She would be…alone. Again. Just like she had been before she met the Bladebreakers, as much as she hated to admit it. Before meeting the guys, she had been surrounded by her other girl classmates all the time, but it wasn't like they really cared about her or that she really cared about them. She had only stuck around them for…company? Now come to think of it, Hilary didn't know why she had hung around those phoney friends of hers for so long anyways.

   She shot a glance over at the pink digital Hello Kitty clock that sat on her nightstand. It was almost noon, on the day before Christmas. She sighed. _Christmas_. It sure didn't feel a lot like the day before Christmas. Hilary wasn't even excited, much less happy, and it was her favourite time of year.

   But maybe that was what she needed to get this whole thing off her mind, at least for a bit. "I'll do something Christmassy." She announced to no one in particular and slowly sat up in bed. "Maybe…" she looked at her reflection in her full-length mirror thoughtfully. "No, I've already finished my Christmas shopping. I could…nah, no one has Christmas lights on during the day. I guess, I could just go for a walk…but away from the river this time." Hilary shuddered as she changed into a pair of jean bellbottoms and pulled on a crimson turtle-necked sweater. "I definitely don't want to repeat _that_ little escapade."

   With that, she grabbed a blueberry muffin off of the kitchen table before slipping on her scarf, mittens, and a jacket, and whisked herself out the door. 

~*~

   "Oh crap!" The navy-haired boy shot upright in bed, his dark eyes wide as he gasped for breathe. "The party!"

   He shoved aside the sliding door that separated his room from the rest of the building and ran down the hall to the dojo. When Tyson saw the sight that lay before him, his jaw literally dropped to the floor in awe. "What the heck?" The dojo…it was…

   "Clean?! It-it's clean!"

   Tyson stammered as he strode slowly around the wooden planked room. There wasn't a single speck of food to be seen, the tables had been neatly put away, and the stage that had been set up the morning before was gone. All that was left was the Christmas tree, the red and green lights and festive decorations that still hung from the walls and ceiling. It was as if there had been no party the night before.

   With a sigh of relief, thankfulness, and overwhelming appreciation for his friends, the exhausted boy collapsed against the dojo wall and slid to the floor. When his grandpa came back that afternoon, he wouldn't have a single clue that there had been a party while he was out. Tyson smiled, he owed his buddies big time. How Max, Kenny, and Ray had kicked everyone out and got some of the others to help clean up the place was hard to imagine, seeing as the dojo had been a total wreck. And it wasn't as if anyone were in much of a sane state of mind either. 

   The events of the night before came flooding back to him, as he lay slumped against the wood. _Right_, he thought as his expression and tone of voice darkened. 

   "Some friends you can't do without." He stated to himself simply and images of Max, Ray, and the Chief came immediately to mind. Tyson adjusted his red and blue baseball cap on his head and pulled on his jacket. "And some friends," Both the faces of the bossy class president and the lone wolf team captain came to mind. "You _can_ do without."

   Then the navy-haired boy pulled his cap down to shade his cobalt eyes and strode silently out the dojo door, having to fulfill a sudden urge to fling snowballs as hard as he could into the river.  

~*~

   As hard as she tried to avoid it, she still kept finding herself atop the large flight of steps that led to the river's icy edge. She sighed, "And here I am, once again." Hilary huffed and blew her chocolate-coloured locks up into the frosty air. "Why is it that the only day I'm trying to stay away from this place, I keep ending up back here?"

   Shaking her head, Hilary went to turn back around and continue on her way day the sleet-covered streets when she heard a loud splash coming from somewhere not too far away. 

   _Oh my God…did someone fall in?!_ Was the first thought that came to mind and she instantly spun around to face the river. She scanned the water's edge and saw nothing. Hilary was about to shrug it off when she saw a small blur of white shoot out from underneath the bridge and fall into the river with a loud splash.

   Curious, Hilary stepped carefully down the stairs and quietly approached the underside of the bridge. What if it was Tyson or Kai? What would she do then? She still hadn't completely decided on who she liked more…she didn't want to hurt either of her friends feelings. But she knew that either way, whichever choice she decided on, she'd end up hurting someone, and not only herself. And that's what was making Hilary stall. She didn't want to hurt anyone. 

   Hilary froze in mid-step. The words "_who she liked more…_" rang an imaginary alarm bell in her head and continued to echo strangely off of the invisible walls in her frustrated mind. _Who she liked more_. It sounded as if she was a little kid at an ice cream stall trying to choose whether to have a scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream. That didn't sound at all right in Hilary's mind. These were two very important people in her life, two people she cared a lot about and didn't want to hurt in any way. But, God, did her thoughts ever make her seem like some self-centred cow. She had to end this.

   Shaking her head, she took a careless step forward into the snow.

   *_Crick!*_

   Hilary winced. There weren't many twigs that could be seen on this side of river, and with Hilary's luck, she had stepped on one of the few. 

   "Hey, who's there?" a familiar masculine voice called out from under the bridge.

   Hilary felt a large knot form in the pit of her stomach and she gave a stifled gasp.

   _Oh crap._

~*~

   At the sudden snap of the twig, the navy-haired boy's eyes darted towards the side of the bridge. A sharp intake of breath reassured him that it was not just his imagination. He heaved a deep sigh and made his way out from under the bridge somewhat reluctantly and slowly, dropping his icy white piece of ammunition along the way.

   "Hey, who's there?" he asked, not really caring about who answered—but then again, half hoping it wasn't Hilary and half hoping that it was. 

   When the cobalt eyes of the eerily calm World Champion blader came into contact with those of the evidently anxious brunette, they narrowed involuntarily. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he averted his gaze almost instantly towards the snow-covered ground and muttered half-heartedly: "Oh, it's you."

   He began to retreat to his place under the lonely bridge, when he felt her gentle hand clasp onto his shoulder lightly. Freezing cold as it was outside, the mere touch of her sent tingles coursing up his spine. 

   "Tyson…" she spoke the name of her friend with sad eyes and a soft tone. "Don't go, please. I'm-I'm so sorry!" Just at the sight of Tyson's gloomy figure sent a wave of fault crashing over her.

   _Yeah right_, the boy thought bitterly and yanked his shoulder away from her outstretched hand. Then there was silence between the two, and the only sound that could be heard was the lapping of the water flowing down the river beside them.

   "Well," Tyson broke the stillness with a cold tone of voice that rivalled the tone of the greatest brooder of all, Kai. He held his gaze downwards towards the swirling dark currents of water, knowing that if he stole just one glance at Hilary, his stubborn barrier of ice would shatter and melt. What kind of guy would break down just because of a girl? He was tough, and she wasn't going to break him. "You said your apology. Now can you please go away? I need to think."

    Quite taken back by Tyson's harsh response, Hilary bit her lip and fought back the urge to cry. _Tyson Kinomiya, why do you have to be such a stubborn ass sometimes?_

   "Look, Tyson!" She felt her anger welling up inside her like a volcano about to overflow and she couldn't help but let her voice rise. "JUST FREAKING QUIT THE STUPID TOUGH-GUY ACT AND LISTEN TO ME!"

   Tyson whirled around instantly at her outburst and blinked in utter shock. "D-dude, Hilary, chill!" his cobalt eyes were literally as wide as dinner plates and he couldn't help but stutter in a choked yelp of astonishment.

   Hilary exhaled, but her aggravation didn't fade completely. How dare he tell _her_ to chill when it was _him_ who needed to _chill out_? She rubbed her temples vigorously and sighed somewhat dejectedly. 

   "Look, I just wanted to talk, okay? I'll leave as soon as we sort some things out first. I promise." She compromised earnestly after a few moments of silence, when it felt as though they both had vented of most of their anger. "And…I really am sorry." She apologized in a hushed tone of voice.

   And by just seeing the look of sincerity and remorse in her ruby eyes, Tyson let a smidge of a smile creep onto his features. Then, he gave the girl a little nod and felt a glow of embarrassment tinge his cheeks. 

   "Let's…talk."

~*~

   Only a few minutes later, did the two find themselves in a deep and serious conversation.

   "So…you won't be mad…if I _happened_ to choose Kai instead of you?" the brunette winced, not really wanting for Tyson to take her question the wrong way, as brunt as it had sounded.

   "I…" Tyson paused to collect his thoughts and put together what his heart and mind were telling him. She was sorry…heck, _he_ was sorry. And Kai was one of his best friends... He wanted to say the right thing, do what he wanted, do what was best for everyone, _and_ keep everyone happy. Whether fully realizing it consciously or not, Tyson knew that if he wanted to do what was right and make his friends happy, _he'd_ have to endure a bit of pain…for them. He'd have to sacrifice his happiness for theirs. But Tyson didn't care, because if it made his friends happy, then that was all that really mattered. "No, Hilary, I wouldn't be mad at you. Who could ever be mad at you?" The navy-haired boy gulped down the large lump that had begun to form in his throat. "You just want to do what's right for everyone. Well, so do I, Hil. I want you to do what you think is best because it's your decision, and not mine or Kai's or anyone else's. And…" he felt his voice beginning to choke, "I'll always be your friend no matter what happens."

   "Really, Tyson? You'd do that…for me?" Hilary's eyes began to glaze over with tears and she looked at the boy with a newfound admiration. She couldn't believe that this was the same Tyson that she had fought with to clean the classroom and who was constantly late for school. He was…different. Sincere. _Sweet_. 

   "Yeah, Hil, I would. And I swear on Dragoon that I'll always be there for you, even if you choose to be with Kai."

   Now Hilary was breathless. She hated to admit, but never in all of her years of knowing Tyson, did she think that Tyson could even think of anything so deep about anything. Except maybe a giant tub of free ice cream.

   "Thank you Tyson." She gave Tyson a long, warm hug, before walking off to face her next challenge. 

   Kai.

~*~

_   Why?_ The Russian boy with the two-toned hair screamed at himself mentally as he slammed his bedroom door shut and collapsed backwards onto his bed. _Why was I so stupid to let my emotions get in the way? Hadn't all those years of horribly painful and endless training and torment at the abbey been enough to drive away all trace of emotion?_ Kai closed his eyes and let out a deep breathe.

   He had already been out the entire morning training and trying to get his mind off of everything. But it was no use. Christmas, as well as the muddle of recent events, had been screwing with his mind…not to mention his training schedule. 

   It was that single image that lay engraved in his memory, etched forever somewhere deep in his mind. The look of longing and emotion that overflowed her beautiful ruby eyes as she gazed after his navy-haired friend haunted him. It felt almost like being slapped hard across the face. Yet, he could not forget it as desperately as he wished. Oh how Kai Hiwatari hated the feeling of rejection, even if it she hadn't said it right out loud. She might as well have.

   A muffled knock resounded on the wooden door of his bedroom and Kai snapped out of his thoughts. The door creaked open and a grey-haired butler with a pointy nose poked his head through the crack. "Excuse me, young master Hiwatari, but there is a young miss at the door for you. She is waiting in the sitting room, shall I send her up or shall I notify her that you will see to her momentarily?"

   _A young miss?_ Kai thought confusedly, then his eyes widened slightly. _Hilary._ With a small snort and a muttered "Tell her I'm out", Kai flopped back down onto his grand bed and continued to stare unmoving at the white ceiling.

   "B-but, Master Kai—" the butler stuttered at the young master's rude reply. "It is not polite to keep a guest waiting, much less a female friend of the young master—"

   Kai shot an icy cold glare at the servant to quiet him. With a "hmph", the Russian boy folded his arms behind his head, turned away, and continued to glower out the large picture window.

   "My apologies, sir. It was not my place." The man with salt and pepper greyed hair bowed his head and shut the door softly on his way back down the fancily curved steps. 

~*~

   Immediately after he heard the front door close, Kai groaned when he heard a little voice in the back of his mind quip:

   _You know what, Kai?_

   "What?" he grunted and closed his eyes.

   _You're mean, having your butler lie to Hilary for you like that._

   "Shut up! I don't care what you say; it was my decision alone and not yours! Leave me alone!" Kai found himself yelling at no one in particular, seeing as he was the only one in the room. The frustrated boy shook his head and growled, "What the hell is up with this? I'm bloody talking to myself!"

   With a groan, Kai sat up, and walked towards the large bedroom window that peered out and on-looked the large piles of freshly fallen snow that littered the estate grounds. Then, without hesitation, he pushed open his window and jumped out the two-story window. After landing with a soft "_poof_" of the powdery snow as it burst upwards into the air, Kai pushed passed the wrought-iron gates that boxed in the luxurious mansion and ran to the place where he knew he would be able to think alone. He ran faster and faster away from his home, trying to rid himself of all the alien emotions that clogged his mind, with the tails of his white silken scarf flowing behind him in the breeze.

~*~

**_Silver Swiftness_:** First off, let me start by saying how _sorry_ I am for having you guys wait so long for this chapter! -_-;; I've been completely loaded up on homework and projects lately…and I broke one of my fingers a few weeks ago and had to adapt to typing with _nine_ fingers. But my finger is better now, thankfully. Enough of the lame excuses—note to take into consideration: Because of the little talk that Tyson and Hilary had, it doesn't mean that Tyson no longer has a shot…but it also doesn't mean that Kai's out of the game. =P Heheh, now I'm playing with your minds…fun! Lol *cough* sorry. Anyways, I hope that the next and _final_ chapters of Perfect Christmas won't take so long to write. Yes, I did say chapter_s_! I'm thinking of having a _different_ kind of ending then most stories have…but we'll have to see about that. I don't want to drag this on much longer, lol…I want to start on something new!

   Hmph. Is it just me, or am I the only one with a format that keeps screwing up? _ The breaks in the pages aren't appearing where I put them…but I do them the same way as I used to in previous chapter…and they've worked then…

   Also, I finally got off my butt and posted something on deviantart.com. It would be awesome if you checked it out. The link to my account is in my profile. ^-^

   Mucho thanks for the awesome reviews (a heck of a lot more than I anticipated o_O, but it's all good, lol!) and I would really appreciate it if you reviewed this chapter! Thank you all for being so patient with a procrastinator like me. *nods* L8erz! (And yes, hehe, I've watched some episodes of the Weekenders. ^-^;; )


	9. What You Mean To Me, with Ending I

**Important Author's Note**: Gyah! I'm really, really sorry guys! I wanted to update earlier but I was at a loss for inspiration and then I had exams and I've just been really busy! Yeah, and if you must know…you're dealing with a big time procrastinator here. -.-; But anyways, you can throw bricks and rotten tomatoes at me at the end of this chapter…just read this note (and the chapter of course)! Well, I told you all that there was going to be something different about the last two chapters of this story. Why? Well, I've decided to write an ending for both pairings! It was too hard to choose. o.O; But even though this chapter may have the ending you dislike…YOU MUST STILL READ THE FIRST PART OF THIS! Why? Well, there's a mighty good chance that I'll be using that segment of the chapter to head off the second ending. Don't worry; I shall warn you when you should stop…if you want to that is, lol.

Don't forget to read the Author's Note at the bottom, too, please and thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any Christmas songs that happen to pop up.

* * *

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**Perfect Christmas**

****

**Chapter 9** (_with_ Ending I – KaiHil/KaiHiro): _What You Mean To Me_

"_Hmph_."

Hilary's lips twisted into a disapproving scowl. She crossed her arms huffily and padded down the snowy steps of the Hiwatari Estate entrance.

"It figures that he wouldn't be home." She passed through the wrought-iron gateway that creaked open with a clang and shot a backwards glance at the upstairs windows of the mansion. Pausing mid-step along the pathway that lead back to the main part of the city, an interesting realization dawned on the brown-haired girl. "Hmmm," she mumbled slyly to herself. "I wonder…"

With a mischievous smirk, Hilary hurried her pace along the road. When she reached the bend in the path that was hidden by the ravine and that isolated the Hiwatari manor from the rest of the city, she ducked into the wooded area and disappeared from sight.

* * *

_She's going to go for Kai. I know she is._ Tyson reminded himself constantly as he arranged his large pile of bulgy presents neatly underneath the twinkling lights of the over-sized, bushy evergreen.

"But you know what?" he spoke light-heartedly to himself and adjusted the loopy red bow on his grandpa's present. "I don't care, I don't care anymore." He sat up and backed away from the pile of gifts underneath the Christmas tree to admire his masterpiece of neatly stacked surprises. "It's not like it's my decision anyways. Kai's a good guy; he'll take good care of Hil. They're great for each other, a perfect couple. And I'll—I'll get over it. Heck, I _am_ over it!" He thumped his chest with his fist and shot a cheeky grin at the dainty little angel who sparkled at the top of the tree.

"Get over what, Ty?"

Startled, Tyson jumped and gave a yelp. He spun around and yelled, "Grandpa, don't scare me like that! Don't you know how to knock?! How long have you been standing there--?!"

The loud-mouthed Beyblader blinked at what he saw before him. It was not his hipster of a grandfather--it was his fellow Bladebreaker, Max, with an unfamiliar girl at his side. Tyson could not help but notice the tentative atmosphere that surrounded her--- not to mention her interesting sense of style. Her brown hair was in two spiky bunches with random sprigs of holly sticking out and she wore goggles on her head like a headband. Draped around her neck, was a long strand of shimmering silver tinsel that Tyson figured was a seasonal scarf to match the holiday atmosphere. Just looking at her sapphire eyes that sparkled with soundless laughter and slight confusion, intrigued Tyson and caused a smile to spread across his lips.

The blonde laughed, walked up to Tyson, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry pal, we just stepped in. I hope you don't mind us being a bit early. I wanted to show my cousin," Max motioned towards the pixie-like girl beside him, "around the city and this is our last stop."

"Hey," the girl shot a shy little smile at the boy with the spiky hair and backwards baseball cap. "Tyson, is it?"

"Yup!" Tyson smiled brightly, clearly gloating at the mere fact that this girl he had never even seen before knew his name. "That's my name alright, and don't wear it out!" He laughed at his own little joke and continued on with his hearty greeting. "Tyson Kinomiya, World Champion Beyblader and member of the Bladebreakers, at your service, um…"

"Nikki." She laughed despite herself and the boy's encouraging open-ness seemed to ease away her tension. She reached out to return Tyson's handshake and smiled a bit more confidently. "I'm Nikki Jameson from California. It's really nice to meet you, Tyson."

* * *

Max chuckled and ran a hand through his sandy mess of hair. "I guess those two won't have a problem getting along," he said to himself as he watched the two chatter away and get to know each other without any hesitation whatsoever.

"Heh, that was fast." A voice from somewhere behind Max quipped. The blonde angled his head backwards and found himself face-to-face with his Asian cat-like buddy who continued to grin knowingly at Tyson and Nikki. Ray shook his head and motioned towards the kitchen with his head. "Dudes, I've got the food—and I'm not afraid to eat it." 

That sure caught Tyson and Nikki's attention. Both pairs of ears instantly perked up at the mention of the four-lettered word.

"Dude, don't you dare touch my grub!" Tyson warned the pointy-eared boy teasingly and he lunged after him into the kitchen. Giggling, Max's cousin skipped cheerfully after him to offer a hand in the kitchen-work.

"Oh, and keep an eye out for the Chief, okay guys?" Ray specifically directed his voice at Max from the kitchen. "He'll be here in a few minutes with more of the food, and I have a feeling the poor guy's going to need some help."

With a response of assurance, Max glanced casually over at the antique wooden clock that hung on the wall near the entrance. "Hm, they're late. I wonder where they are…"

* * *

The Russian boy sprinted through the fancily curved arch that marked the entrance of his family's estate and plodded effortlessly through the piles of frozen white crystals; each stride long and precise. Head bowed, he made his way into the downtown area of the city while leaping over upturned trashcans and large wooden crates that blocked his pathway to his hideout, with ease. After bounding up the rickety flight of metal stairs that clung to the building's side by only a few rusty nails, Kai swiftly unlocked and re-locked the heavily bolted door before slumping into the overstuffed couch of his secret hideaway.

Here, he was alone and this was the only place where he could have any privacy to relieve his mind of life's maze of troubles. Here, he was safe and he didn't have to answer to anyone but himself.

Kai sighed and took in his surroundings. The walls were lined with framed certificates of accomplishment, wooden plaques with shiny engraved plates, as well as mounted newspaper clippings and photos of all of the Beyblading Championships he had won. In the cabinets and on the every surface, sat at least one proud and polished trophy or medal of some sort. Protected by glass casings, were a variety of designed Beyblades from Kai's past; some brand new and never been used, while others sat in pieces broken beyond repair. But each, as the boy had come to eventually realize, symbolized his life, how he had lived it, and how he, along with his style of life and Beyblading, had changed.

Change.

Who knew that one simple word could represent so many meanings?

The Russian boy had transformed so much since his life in the abbey in Moscow. Since he had met the Bladebreakers, his first true friends who taught him lessons about life and friendship that he would have never learned on his own. Since he had finally rebelled against his Grandfather and stood up for himself. Since he had been beaten in Beybattles numerous times more than he had ever expected and discovered that he could not get through life by himself. Since he had first met Hilary and…experienced the awkward emotions that he had pushed away for so long, for the very first time.

A low growl rumbled from his throat and his fingers clamped onto his slate-blue fronds.

"I hate her." He muttered through clenched teeth to the empty room. "She's the one that made me like this; all weak and light-headed." Then, he banged his fist onto the coffee table in front of him and let strands of his hair slip over his downcast eyes. A potted miniature ivy plant and a few stray papers were sent tumbling to the floor.

The crash of the piece of pottery on the rug-covered cement seemed to knock a bit of sense into Kai, and a small murmur escaped his reluctant lips: "But…I can't."

Confused by the swell of foreign melange of emotions, the frustrated Kai knocked the not so sturdy coffee table onto its side with a single swipe of his hand. It looked like he could not escape these unwanted feelings even here--or anywhere else, as it seemed.

So what did this all mean?

Was he…sick? No, he only felt sick at times of perplexity like these and not when he was anywhere near _her_. He felt kind of _nice_ when he was around her, and people did not normally feel happy when they were ill. So…what?

Oh God.

Was he going _crazy_?

_No, no_. Kai mentally reassured himself of his sanity and shoved the insane idea out of his head.

Shaking his head in pure disgust of himself, he stomped towards the door with hasty steps and forced himself to deny the answers that lay before him. "_No!_" He unbarred the door and flung it open with a slam—

And found _her_ standing there.

* * *

=== **TyHil (Takao x Hiromi) fans: Stop here and skip to the Author's Note at the end!** ===

* * *

"Candles burnin' low!" the leader of the Saint Shields belted out at the top of his vocal cords. "Lots of mistletoe!"

"Lots of snow and ice," Mariam voiced the upbeat melody in a smooth and powerful tone. "Everywhere we go!" she boogied it closer to the microphone stand at centre stage.

"Wow! It's almost exactly like yesterday, just minus the alcohol with better food and louder music!" Ray yelled, trying to communicate to Max over the deafening wails of guitar and excited chatter of high-spirited Beyblader buddies. He glanced over at the stage where a drunken-looking old man was doing a seriously messed up version of the chicken dance on a table. The Asian sweatdropped, "Okay…so plus Tyson's wacky grandpa and plus some spiked punch or something too!"

Max laughed and cupped a hand over his mouth in effort to guide his voice to Ray. "What?!" he shouted back over the booming sounds that surrounded them.

"What?!" Ray made a face and strained his ear to try and hear his friend better.

Then a goofy look of confusion and laughter spread across the blonde boy's features. "What?! Ray, I can't hear you!"

"WHAT?!" Ray answered, louder this time. "Speak louder!"

"WHAT?!"

"WHAT?!?!"

"WHAT?!?!?!"

"Argg…" Ray shook his head and enunciated as best he could: "NEVER MIND!"

"WHAT?!"

The raven-haired youth rolled his eyes with a growl and pulled Max off the dance floor, into an area by the door with a little less noise.

"So, what were you saying, Ray?" Max asked, his blue eyes peering at his team mate curiously.

Ray sighed impatiently, "Never mind, it wasn't important. But I've just thought of something else…where're Kai and Hilary? Are they here yet?"

"Hmm, nope, I don't think I've seen them around at all. Heh, I was going to ask you the same question, too, actually. They were supposed to come over here the same time as us to help set up again, remember? Well, at least Hilary said she would. I guess something came up. What a coincidence, eh?"

"Yeah…" Ray scratched his chin thoughtfully. A glint of mischief flickered in his amber eyes. "Almost like _too_ much of a coincidence to me."

Max shrugged and folded his arms behind his head of sandy blonde hair. "Dude, it's _Kai_ we're talking about here. Besides, who even said that they were together?"

"True," Ray said somewhat doubtfully. "But Kai has been acting weird these days. Haven't you noticed?"

Max nodded and gave another small shrug. "Hey, Christmas time makes people act differently. Some more greedy and some…nicer."

The two Bladebreakers looked at each other and made a face. "Kai, nice? Nah!" they spoke simultaneously with a laugh and swatted a hand jokingly.

"If I ever live to see the day when Kai Hiwatari purposely demonstrates an act of kindness in public, I'll friggin' cut my hair!" Ray sniggered.

"Well, Ray, ya' never know…" Max said with a look in his cobalt eyes and a smirk on his face that appeared to Ray as almost a look of …knowing. But…nah! It's not like this kid was psychic or anything, right?

Suddenly, a pair of gentle arms latched onto his left bicep and a familiar soothing voice cooed in his ear. "Raaaay, come dance with me!" The girl with the long and wavy magenta hair made her cat-like eyes as round and innocent-looking as possible.

"Catch you later, Maxy." Ray allowed himself to be led onto the dance floor and he tossed a sly wave back over his shoulder. "Can't keep the lady waiting."

* * *

Max shook his head, laughed silently to himself, and proceeded into the kitchen while picking up a few empty food platters along the way. He set them down on the counter and piled them high with holiday goodies. Humming along to the music that blared in the next room, he cheerfully piled a large stack of festively decorated cookies—occasionally popping a few icing frosted treats into his mouth.

As the blonde carefully made his way through the maze of people to the refreshment tables by the door, he heard the double doors slide open quietly. He placed the mountains of baked goods on the holly-patterned tablecloth and glanced up uncertainly when two dark figures stepped inside. When the two eventually crept their way into the soft rainbow of lights on the sidelines of the dance floor, Max gave a slight inward gasp of surprise. A slow, lopsided smirk spread across his face and the boy sauntered over to the oblivious pair.

From behind his two unsuspecting friends, Max spoke suddenly in a deep voice, "He-ey, what brings you two here?" The girl jumped and whirled around to face him. Max chuckled and winked. "Well, better late than never, I guess. We were starting to worry about you guys. Thought we were gonna have to send the hounds out after you two."

The girl relaxed when she saw who it was. "Yeah, well, it's kind of a long story." She shrugged. "Wouldn't want to bore you, eh Kai?" she nudged her silent companion.

"Hn," Was all that escaped the motionless lips of the slate-haired boy.

Max raised an eyebrow and shot a glance at Hilary who would not meet his eyes. He studied the look in Kai's averted eyes, not expecting him to pay him any acknowledgement…but the youth looked up at him with his dark crimson eyes. A bit taken back, Max blinked. _He looks…different._ Kai's gaze still looked as if it could pierce right through someone, but it somehow seemed softer. Changed, maybe? _Heh, yeah, something definitely just happened between those two all right. Meh._ He shrugged his suspicious thoughts away, not wanting to dwell on confusing things that at this time in the holiday season.

"Well, as long as you guys are here, safe and sound…Go have fun!" he gave a hearty slap on Kai's back.

Kai shifted his hands in the deep pockets of his baggy silver slacks and snorted. The way he had executed his grunting sound let Max instinctively understand the little subliminal hint.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm leaving." And with a lopsided smile of knowing, the blue-eyed blader shook his head and walked away to ask a dance with a certain cerulean-haired girl.

* * *

As soon as their blonde-haired friend turned and walked away, silence settled among the two who remained at the corner of the room. It was not exactly an uncomfortable atmosphere, but it still made the brunette feel on edge.

She sat herself down on a chair and thought to herself about her recent talk with Kai. Hilary shot a quick glance over at the boy leaning on the wall in his trademark stance-- eyes closed and downcast, leaning against the wall wordlessly, with his arms crossed and hands tucked under the loose fitting sleeves of his sweatshirt. Chin in her hands, she stared out onto the dance floor and watched the swarm of mixed feet mingle on the floor.

In her daze, she remembered being invited inside Kai's little lair and that she had asked him if he would be mad at her if her decision was to be with Tyson. He had not responded right away to the question and when he finally did…he had surprised them both by shouting out in a strangled cry that he didn't care. His fists had been balled up so tightly that his knuckles turned a pasty colour. Then he had sunk to his knees and punched the concrete floor with such force that he had caused his hand bleed.

Hilary had bent down to his aid, but he had refused to even look at her or show her his injured hand. Annoyed at his stubborn-ness and lack of thought for his own health, she had lost her temper and blown up at him with a lecture at the top of her lungs. When she had finished, she was out of breath and there were tears in her eyes. What had surprised her most was that Kai had been staring at her with a look on his face that she had never thought the muscles on his face could muster.

The one who always seemed so unaffected and emotionless wore an expression on his face so indescribable. For the first time ever, Hilary believed that she saw something in those vague garnet orbs of his. The look of weariness, guilt, longing, embarrassment, stress, confusion, rage, relief, and fear were hinted in the almost unnoticeable swirl of recovered emotions. But when she had blinked, all feeling seemed to have been swallowed up by his normal icy pools. Afterwards, Hilary had carefully bandaged up Kai's right hand while wondering if she had been hallucinating only moments before.

Then, like a sharp knife slicing through tough stalks of vegetables with a slam on the cutting board, Kai's words had severed the muted tension of the room. "I lied." His voice was hoarse and sounded a bit choked up. That was when Hilary had shut her eyes. "I'm sorry, Hilary, but in a way I…" He paused to pluck the words he needed from the headlines that were running through his head. The boy turned his head away instantly to hide how uncomfortable he felt. "I guess…I guess I do care." And then before the two of them had left for the Kinomiya dojo, she could have sworn she heard a whisper of, "At least, about _you_."

But these days…she could never be completely sure about anything she heard.

Hilary sighed. Kai was still unsure of how he felt…she could feel it. She looked around the room and smiled when she spotted Tyson dancing merrily next to a brunette with a unique hairstyle. They really did look like they were having fun.

_I guess things did turn out fine for him after all._ She gave a small smile. _I knew he'd make it out all right. I'm glad for him. _She was glad that at least someone had gotten over the last few days all right. Things always turned out right for Tyson.

Her train of thought was put to an abrupt halt when a single outstretched hand appeared in her line of vision.

"Dance with me." The intended question came out more like an awkward statement. "Please." He mumbled the strange word that slipped off his tongue with effort.

With that, the upbeat music of the previous song blurred and smoothed out into a soothing tune of "_Silver Bells_".

_What? Kai…asked me to dance…?_

Caught off guard by Kai's words, Hilary reached for his hand, but her footing slipped and she landed on the ground. The chair beside her was sent toppling over with a resounding crash and all eyes nearby zoned in on the two frozen figures--Kai with his outstretched hand and Hilary sprawled on the wooden planked floor. In the spotlight, Kai inwardly groaned and cursed at the bad timing while the girl's face tinged a bright cherry red.

_ Oh Lord, great timing, Hil. Real great. _She cringed and mentally kicked herself.

The crowd that encircled them stared down on them with penetrating eyes. It seemed everyone, including Kai and Hilary, was holding their breaths as to see what would happen next.

"Get up." A rigid hand pulled the embarrassed young girl to her feet and the miniature crowd began to applaud.

Faces tinged with rose, the two stood there looking at each other wondering what the heck everyone else was doing watching them and cheering. Hilary and Kai sweatdropped and two dull thuds resonated from somewhere in crowd. One was from an extremely Kai-loyal fangirl… and the other one from Ray.

Nobody knew what to do next, so everyone waited in a tensed silence. Almost as if expecting something. A sudden cough of someone clearing his throat echoed through the silent room.

With a sigh, Kai shrugged a seemingly nonchalant shrug and spoke up bravely. "Hey, it's Christmas—the time for all that mushy happiness and holiday spirit crap. No one likes a Grinch, and hell, after living the last couple of days, it looks like tragedy has already played its part masterfully." Kai rolled his eyes involuntarily as he noticed a few members of the crowd raise a confused eyebrow at the mention of a "tragedy".

Tyson laughed and pushed his way through to the front of the group. "Well said, Mr. Grumpypants, you really said a mouthful there! That's the most I've heard you say since…since…"

The slate-haired captain held his un-bandaged fist up to his navy-haired friend's face and sneered. "Shut up, Kinomiya, or you _will_ be getting a mouthful!"

The entire room erupted in snickers and Tyson's face literally flushed ten different shades of red at once.

Tyson grumbled and retorted hotly with his arms folded defiantly across his chest, "Oh so you're a hypocrite now, eh? Did you already forget your little 'happiness and holiday spirit crap' speech already?"

Kai smirked amusedly, which only made Tyson fume even more until you could almost see steam spouting from his ears like a steam engine.

"Ah, screw Christmas spirit." smirked the Russian boy as he, too, crossed his arms in the same manner, before declaring a quick, monotone "Let's eat."

The guests cheered unanimously and stampeded their way to the buffet table. That left the brunette and the Captain of the Bladebreakers standing alone in an awkward silence.

Hilary coughed nervously. "So much for the dance I guess…" she said timidly, allowing herself to sneak a peek up at the boy's broad frame as it towered over her.

In reply, Kai merely gave a slight nod upwards. Above them dangled a spray of green leaves and milky white berries tied up in a ruby red ribbon from a horizontal beam of wood.

"M-mistletoe? But--" she uttered confusedly before all breathe within her was snatched up in a warm mouthful of holiday sweetness.

And as Kai pressed his lips onto hers, the swirl of mixed emotions carried a single thought that stood out above the rest, as an answer to his query. He turned his head away from that of his angel's and held her close to him in a warm and sturdy embrace.

"I know what this all means now." He whispered softly to himself, yet to the world in wordless notion all the same. "And I know what friends mean to me. Hilary, I know what _you_ mean to me."

Lost in the blissful moment, Hilary didn't even bother to ask where that surprise statement had come from. As she closed her eyes to focus solely on the rhapsody of feelings racing through her, the girl found herself smiling to herself despite yesterday's unfortunate events. Mom and Dad would have wanted her to enjoy her Christmas no matter what. She could almost feel her parents standing right beside her and saying those exact words to her. And there was no way that Hilary would disappoint them.

No, Hilary Hirata would never experience the ideal Christmas that she had wanted for so long, but friends who cared this much for her did not have many differences to compare. Happiness, she concluded, was what her parents wished for her, was what her friends shared with her, and was now what Hilary discovered was the key to her wish.

"Mom…Dad," Hilary spoke so softly that her gentle voice did not even reach the ears of the boy opposite her. "I'm…happy. I wish you didn't have to leave so soon. I just wanted to let you know that you both, my friends, and Kai have helped me so much, in so many ways that I can't even express. I know it's weird to be happy during a time where I should be sad, and that it is awkward to be so gloomy inside at such a happy time, but for some reason both emotions fit together in a messed-up sort of way." She giggled and gave a deep sigh of relief and elation, her voice slightly increased in audibility.

"Thank you, for this perfect Christmas."

* * *

**_Silver Swiftness_**_ [aka- more Author's Noties]_**:** Okey dokeyz! Well, now is the time where you, yes you, can throw rotten tomatoes and bricks at the authoress. -sigh- Anyways, I hope the KaiHil/KaiHiro fans enjoyed their choice of ending and that everyone in general liked the first part of the chapter. And even though some of you may not have opted for the TyHil ending…please stick around and wait for the last chapter/other ending for the important Author's Note at the end of the tenth chapter, at least! But, it would be awesome if could read and review both this ending and the next!

So, thank you all for waiting and thank you to those of you who emailed me, lol! To the TyHil fans: don't worry! Your choice of ending should be done in a few weeks, I hope! Well, before my summer vacation ends…hopefully. (Don't forget that this is the time where I'm away a lot, heh.) Thanks for sticking with me, especially since this isn't even Christmas time. -sweatdrop- To those of you who have read the few chapters of Spin Around that are still sitting around (eheh), you might have remembered Nikki. And, yup, it's the same character…just in a different storyline. (Ehhh, know what else? This thing is screwing with my little "emoticons" I add in. And my spacing! How rude. I do not like those line things everywhere.)

As always, please don't forget to review because I would really appreciate your comments! Thanks again and ciao for now!


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